Category Archives: Euthanasia

At 19 years, I knew statistically it would be soon. One evening we returned home from dinner to find our beloved male, Oedipus, could not move his back legs. He had jumped from a chair excited to eat three hours prior. I knew time was short, so I made an appointment for euthanasia the next day. I took both cats to the vet.

In the vet's office, I placed Oedipus on the table and let his sister, Phaedra, out of the cage to join him. She jumped up with him and inspected him thoroughly. When she lost interest, I placed her back in her cage.

After the vet euthanized Oedipus and we were sure he was gone, I let Phaedra out of the cage to be with him again. She checked him out thoroughly and eventually lost interest again; I put her back in her cage, and we departed.

Her grieving process was very short. She looked everywhere in the house, then adopted his position as primary lap cat. The difference in the grieving process with Phaedra seeing that Oedipus was gone was remarkable. I know in my heart that her being able to know he was dead and not suddenly just gone helped her.

I recommend allowing surviving pets to see the deceased, acknowledge the change in being and grieve gently, instead of fretting about the disappearance and fearing the same unknown will happen to them. I hope this information helps some people with the future loss of their pets.A.A.R., Naples, Fla.

Dear A.A.R.: Your observations and suggestions are important for all cat owners to consider, beginning with adding another cat to the home if you have only one. The essential steps to take to introduce a new cat are posted on my website, http://www.DrFoxVet.net.

I have also posted a long review on how animals grieve the loss of a loved one, human or non-human. As you note, some show little grief but may well benefit from having the opportunity to examine the deceased. Some cats will yowl loudly day and night after experiencing such loss, but others, like many people, seem to take it in stride. In my experience, cats will search the house more frequently when the companion animal is missing (for instance, at the vet's office or escaped outdoors for a while) than after they have been able to see the body of the deceased before removal from the home.

Dear Dr. Fox: It became apparent that it was time to put my 17-year-old cat down on New Year's Eve. Not able to stand "Kitten's" pain, I called around and found a vet who was willing to come to my home on New Year's Day. He claimed a shot right into Kitten's stomach was the best thing to do, and after the injection my family and I petted him for several minutes as he died. During this time, Kitten opened his eyes fearfully and gasped for airthen was gone. It didn't seem like a particularly painless way to go.

I would like your opinion on the least painful method of putting a cat or dog to sleep, as I have several other animals who will one day need to be put down.S.S., Herndon, Va.

Dear S.S.: I regret that you and your cat went through this experience, because this is not the best or usual way to euthanize a cat or dog.

Injecting the euthanasia solution into the abdominal cavity should be done only when a vein cannot be successfully injected, which usually ensures a smooth and quick unconsciousness and death from cardiac arrest. The abdominal injection process is slower, and the animal may struggle and gasp for air repeatedly.

In such instances where a limb or neck vein cannot be successfully injected, the best euthanasia protocol is to give an injection first into the thigh muscle of a strong sedative. This two-step procedure is the best way to help ensure a humane death. The next time around, request that the veterinarian who comes to your home follows this protocol.

Correction

In an earlier column concerning a dog's fear of being in a car, I suggested a veterinary prescription of Xanax (alprazolam). However, I included an incorrect dosage: Rather than giving the dog 0.5 grams, I recommend giving 0.5 milligrams. In addition, I want to add that you should never treat a companion animal with any of your own medications.

Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns. Visit Dr. Fox's website at http://www.drfoxvet.net

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Euthanasia: the challenging responsibility - INFORUM

PUEBLO -

A local group is calling for drastic change at Pueblo Animal Services.

"it's something at least to aim for. When you have the city of Los Angeles going 'no-kill,' I think the city of Pueblo can handle it as well," said Suzanne Morgan, whose worked with various animal rescues for years.

Members of Stand Up For Pueblo Animals say some of the concerns they've had for years about the shelter were recently made public after a Pueblo man tried to adopt a puppy from the shelter--and was told she was going to be put down because she failed their behavioral assessment.

"It's kind of well known in the rescue community about our shelter here. Happy really got the word out there and had a lot of people join up and take notice," said one of the group's members Helinda Edwards.

Pueblo Animal Services is standing by their assessment, though, saying in a statement Tuesday:

"The evaluation is one tool we use to see if the animal exhibits behavior indicating they may be a risk to the safety of the community."

They go on to say:

"If a dog doesnt pass the evaluation, we may contact a partnering shelter with a behavior modification program to see if they are willing and able to accept the dog."

Which is exactly what eventually happened with Happy, who has since been adopted by the man who fought to keep her alive.

"Happy of course was the lucky one," said Morgan.

"There's many more in Pueblo that aren't so lucky," she added.

News5 pulled 2015 statistics from all of the Colorado shelters and found that four of the state's five shelters with the largest K9 intake numbers--including Pueblo Animal Services--also had the largest K9 euthanasia numbers.

But Pueblo Animal Services' euthanasia rate was considerably higher than the other shelters, at 27%.

This past year, it dropped to 22%. Morgan says that's still way too high.

"These peoplethink that they're going to put their animal in to get them 're-homed'--only 3/4 of them do. The rest of them are dead. And that's just wrong," she said.

Her concerns have already caught the city's attention, though.

"We did ask for the city manager to have the administration come to council and hear their side of the story and put out some questions and get some answers," City Council President Steve Nawrocki explained.

That meeting will likely happen sometime early June.

We'll keep you updated.

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Pueblo animal shelter under fire for high euthanasia rate - KOAA.com Colorado Springs and Pueblo News

BRUSSELS (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Vatican's Secretary of State is investigating the decision to allow euthanasia in 15 of Belgian's psychiatric hospitals run by an international religious congregation, the Brothers of Charity.

The investigation was launched after the general superior of the order, Rn Stockman, lodged a formal complaint with the Vatican protesting his community's tolerance of the sinful practice. He chose to involve the Vatican after the Brothers of Charity rejected his formal request to reverse their decision allowing euthanasia at their 15 mental institutions.

In an email Thursday, Stockman announced that Cdl. Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, was personally investigating the matter. "Because it is a matter of the Belgian group, I informed the Belgian bishops' conference in order to ask for their opinion and to ask a clear statement of them," said Stockman. "At the same time, I am in contact with the Vatican the Congregation (for Institutes) of Consecrated Life (and Societies of Apostolic Life) and the secretary of state who asked me for more information."

The recent affair came to light on April 25 when the Brothers of Charity posted on their website the decision by their board of directors to begin allowing euthanasia within their institutions in Belgium. The religious order is an international congregation with a presence in 30 countries. The community's general superior, Stockman, who is also a psychiatric care specialist, is stationed in Rome.

Upon hearing of his community's decision to offer euthanasia for their mental patients Stockman first informed them that their decision could not be tolerated by the Church. "[W]e informed the whole congregation that as superior general we cannot accept this decision because it is going totally against our charism of the charity." He also made it known at that time that he was involved in talks with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cdl. Parolin. At that time, the Belgian bishops' conference was also informed of the affair and asked to assist Stockman in resolving the situation.

The community, Stockman relates, has turned a deaf ear to his directive that they reconsider their decision to offer euthanasia within their Catholic run mental institutions. So now the Vatican is getting involved. In the same communication Thursday, Stockman remarked, "I hope that there will come a clear answer from the Belgian bishops and the Vatican. I have trust in it."

The Belgian province of the Brothers of Charity provides some 5,000 beds within their 15 mental hospitals. If his order's Catholic-run hospitals can't avoid Belgium's pro-euthanasia laws then they'll have to get out of the business says Stockman:

I wait for the clear answer of the Church and that answer will be presented to our organization, in the hope that it will adapt its vision ... I hope we will not have to withdraw our responsibility in the field of mental health care in the place where we started as a congregation with such care more than 200 years ago.

The general superior was referring to the founding of the Brothers of Charity, which took place in Belgium back in 1807. The order was originally known as the Hospital Brothers of St. Vincent before it spread around the globe.

Last year, a private Catholic rest home in Diest, Belgium, was fined $6,600 after being sued for refusing to euthanize a 74-year-old woman suffering from lung cancer.

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Vatican Investigates Euthanasia in Belgian Catholic Hospitals - Church Militant

NewsBusters (blog)

Lifetime's 'Mary Kills People' Uses Bible Verse to Justify Euthanasia NewsBusters (blog) Sunday night's episode of Lifetime's Mary Kills People, Wave the White Flag, championed the cause for passive euthanasia (withdrawing medical treatment ... and more »

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Lifetime's 'Mary Kills People' Uses Bible Verse to Justify Euthanasia - NewsBusters (blog)

MANCHESTER, England (CNS) -- A group of psychiatric care centers run by a Catholic religious order in Belgium has announced it will permit doctors to undertake the euthanasia of "nonterminal" mentally ill patients on its premises.

In a nine-page document, the Brothers of Charity Group stated that it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia in any of its 15 centers, which provide care to more than 5,000 patients a year, subject to carefully stipulated criteria.

Brother Rene Stockman, the superior general, has distanced himself from the decision of the group's largely lay board of directors, however, and has told Belgian media that the policy was a tragedy.

"We cannot accept that euthanasia is carried out within the walls of our institutions," said Brother Stockman, a specialist in psychiatric care, in an April 27 interview with De Morgen newspaper in Brussels.

He told the newspaper that he intended to raise the matter with Catholic authorities in Rome and with the Belgian bishops.

Carine Brochier, a Catholic bioethicist from Brussels, told Catholic News Service in a May 3 telephone interview she was certain that political and financial pressure was exerted on the Brothers of Charity Group to allow euthanasia.

The group's new policy document, which was drafted in March, comes about a year after a court fined the St. Augustine Catholic rest home in Diest, Belgium, for refusing to allow the euthanasia of a lung cancer patient on its premises.

The home was ordered to pay 6,000 euros after it prevented doctors from giving a lethal injection to Mariette Buntjens, 74, who instead was taken by ambulance to her private address to die "in peaceful surroundings."

"The pro-euthanasia movement is really happy about what is happening," said Brochier, adding that she believed internal pressures also influenced the decision.

"The Brothers of Charity work with laypeople. Those people think that euthanasia should be allowed in the premises," she said. "Also, I guess some of the Brothers of Charity wanted the euthanasia to be permitted within the walls.

"Rene Stockman is completely the opposite way, but the Brothers of Charity here in Belgium are very, very progressive," she said.

The new policy document harmonizes the practices of the centers in the group with Belgian law on euthanasia.

It sought to balance the Catholic belief in the inviolability of innocent human life with duty of care under the law and with the demands of patient autonomy.

The group has promised to take requests for death seriously, and it expressed the opinion that "a carefully guided euthanasia can prevent more violent forms of suicide."

The policy document has acknowledged the difficulties in providing euthanasia to psychiatric patients, noting that Belgian euthanasia law was "primarily written for physical suffering in a terminal situation."

The suffering of psychiatric patients must therefore be considered hopeless, unbearable and untreatable if a request for euthanasia was to proceed, the policy document says, adding that requests must be voluntarily and repeatedly made by a competent adult for them to be legitimate.

After three doctors have assented to the patient's request, the euthanasia can go ahead on the Brothers of Charity premises, the document concluded.

"If the euthanasia procedure takes place in a facility of the Brothers of Charity, a preliminary review is necessary," it says. "The reason is that, on the one hand, we want to respect the physician's therapeutic freedom, but on the other hand we want to go about euthanasia being performed in a facility of the Brothers of Charity with the utmost caution."

In the Flanders region of Belgium, the order is considered to be the most important provider of mental health care services. The order also runs schools, employing about 12,000 staff nationwide.

About 12 psychiatric patients in the care of the Brothers of Charity are believed to have asked for euthanasia over the past year, with two of them being transferred elsewhere to receive the injections to end their lives.

Raf De Rycke, chairman of the board of the Brothers of Charity Group, said in comments reported by De Morgen April 25 that the group was guided by three fundamental values in producing the policy: respect for the patient's life, the autonomy of the patient and the relationship between the care provider and the patient.

"The protection of life remains fundamental," said De Rycke. "But we also want to respect the patient's autonomy, even if he has the desire to live no longer. We do not approve of the (euthanasia) act as such, but respect the demand and see (permitting) it as a form of charity."

Brochier said she suspected the Belgian bishops were "very embarrassed" by the policy but suggested they shared some of the blame because, she said, they appeared to give up the fight against euthanasia, partly by failing to correct some priests and doctors when they have argued for the procedure while publicly purporting to be Catholic.

"It is very difficult to hear a clear message about euthanasia," Brochier said. "But it should be condemned very strongly, and doctors who perform euthanasia should have a clear message from the church, from the pope, from the bishops, so that they can understand that they are killing somebody."

"Palliative care is very good in Belgium. We don't need euthanasia," she added.

CNS repeatedly try to reach the Belgian bishops' conference for comment.

Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2003, a year after the Netherlands became the first country since Nazi Germany to introduce the procedure.

Technically, euthanasia in Belgium remains an offense, with the law protecting doctors from prosecution only if they abide by carefully set criteria.

This initially included limiting euthanasia only to adults who were suffering unbearably and who were able to give their consent but, in 2014, the law was also extended to "emancipated children."

Despite safeguards, critics have argued the law is interpreted so liberally that euthanasia is available on demand, with doctors also increasingly giving lethal injections to people who are disabled, demented or mentally ill.

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Belgian Brothers to allow euthanasia for nonterminal psych patients - Catholic News Service

Belgian Catholic group explains switch on euthanasia MercatorNet Last week marked an important step in the integration of euthanasia into the Belgian healthcare. A religious order in the Catholic Church, the Brothers of Charity, which is responsible for a large proportion of beds for psychiatric patients in Belgium ...

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Belgian Catholic group explains switch on euthanasia - MercatorNet

Last week marked an important step in the integration of euthanasia into the Belgian healthcare. A religious order in the Catholic Church, the Brothers of Charity, which is responsible for a large proportion of beds for psychiatric patients in Belgium announcedthat it will allow euthanasiato take place in its facilities.

This has been an extremely controversial move because the Catholic Church is unequivocally opposed to euthanasia. In 1995 John Paul II declared that euthanasia is a grave violation of the law of God, since it is the deliberate and morally unacceptable killing of a human person. And Pope Francis described it earlier this year as a symptom of a selfish throwawayculture.

The local organisation has clearly split from Rome on this issue. The superior-general of the order, Brother Ren Stockman, has described the decision as a real tragedy.

Euthanasia for psychiatric patients has already happened dozens of times in Belgium.But from now on it will be hard to find an institution in Belgiumwhere euthanasia is not being offeredas an option.

In the email interview below, the chairman of the board of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium,Raf De Rycke, an economist who has worked with them for years, explains the point of view of the dissidents.

**************

BioEdge: Is allowing euthanasia as an option a world-first as the official position of a Catholic institution?

Raf De Rycke: That is hard to say because Catholic institutions will not always make such views official and public. Sometimes they have a certain practice but not an official position. Anyway, there is a chance that our position is world-first because there are only a few countries that have a euthanasia bill and not all these countries have a network of Catholic institutions.

What proportion of places for the mentally ill are run by the Brothers in Belgium (and in Flanders)?

The Brothers of Charity run 12 psychiatric institutions in which daily about 6,000 patients are treated. That represents about 25% of these institutions in Belgium (about 30% in Flanders).

The refusal of the Brothers to allow euthanasia in their institutions has been described by critics as a major obstacle to the growth of euthanasia. So will this change in policy, if it goes ahead, have a big impact on psychiatric care in Belgium?

This will not have such a big impact in practice because our first and preferred option remains to focus on the patient's life perspective. At the same time we take the euthanasia request seriously and clarify the patient's underlying motives. However, a request can only be accepted if all the prudential requirements are met.

We have elaborated a series of prudential requirements that enforce the application of the law: three fundamental requirements, five procedural requirements, the determination of the conscientious decision and an additional requirement specific for the residential context.

Finally, the application of these prudential requirements will be critically evaluated by an evaluation committee, which is a completely innovative option in this matter. Our prudential requirements are strict and will not lead to a major change in practice, maybe to some exceptional cases.

What has happened up to now if someone requested euthanasia in one of your hospitals? Did it happen often? Did you allow terminal sedation?

Up to now, we also took seriously a euthanasia request, but we communicated beforehand that euthanasia could not be carried out by the staff and not within the institution. If there was a continuous request according to the conditions of the law, the patient was referred to another psychiatrist or service. Terminal sedation is not a solution to euthanasia in mental illness because these patients are simply not terminal.

Brother Stockman [the superior-general of the Brothers of Charity], not to mention Pope Francis, has often expressed his opposition to euthanasia. Is euthanasia compatible with Catholic, or Christian, values?

This depends on the underlying fundamental ethical view. For some people, values may be absolute, as for instance the inviolability of life. This implies that this value may never be violated and euthanasia is excluded a priori.

But at the same time, other values such as autonomy, quality of life and care relationship may be seriously violated. In our view, values are fundamental, essential cornerstones for making good decisions, but not absolute ones. Values can thus be weighed against each other without prior determination of which value has the priority.

In each situation these values must be assessed. In order to make a responsible decision, the prudential requirements help distinguish how inviolability of life, autonomy, quality of life and the care relationship are at stake.

We work with an open normativity that assesses values in any concrete situation, and not with a closed normativity that knows in advance what consideration should be made at all times, in all circumstances, regardless the intention and the wide range of effects.

The assessment of values we propose, is based on personalism and on proportionalism. Personalism means that the ethical criterion for evaluating decisions is the extent to which these decisions serve the promotion of the human person, adequately considered, in all their constitutive dimensions, and thus not only in the biological dimension.

Proportionalism means that there should be a reasonable proportion of the underlying values, taking into account the intention, the act, the effects and the circumstances, and thus not only the act in itself. Personalism and proportionalism belong, without doubt, to the rich tradition of Catholic moral theology, which includes different approaches.

How was the decision made? Was it taken by the Board running the Brothers institutions, or by the religious congregation itself? Was there a split between the laymen and the brothers?

This decision was taken by the Board running the institutions in Belgium, consisting of brothers and laymen. The decision was supported by the Board of the religious congregation in Belgium. The process lasted more than a year and many different groups, such as ethics committees, boards of directors and psychiatrists, were consulted repeatedly. Throughout this process of consultation, these various groups have come to an agreement, although this does not exclude disagreements among individuals. At the Belgian level there is no split between laymen and brothers.

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BioEdge: Belgian Catholic group explains switch on euthanasia - BioEdge

The Care Alliance Monday 08 May 2017, 09:23AM

Media release from the Care Alliance

Analysis of 21,277 submissions to the Health Select Committees investigation into end of life issues shows that 16,411 opposed the legalisation of euthanasia, while 4,142 supported legalisation.

Releasing the analysis today Matthew Jansen, Secretary of the Care Alliance, said the submissions reflect the depth and breadth of public attitudes about euthanasia. We believe it is the largest number of submissions ever received by a Select Committee and, critically, they were unique rather than postcard or form submissions.

We became aware last year that pro-euthanasia advocates were spreading a message that opposing submissions did not meet their standards for length, uniqueness or the use of religious arguments. We thought that was disrespectful to the thousands of New Zealanders who took the time and effort to share their views with Parliament, for and against. So we set to work to find out the facts.

Care Alliance volunteers read every submission to record views on legalising euthanasia, the length of the submission, and whether or not religious arguments were used by the submitter. This work was completed in April, and a random sample from the full analysis was checked by an independent research company. It concluded that we can say with at least 95% confidence that the overall classification percentages are accurate within no more than 0.4% variation.

The Health Select Committee investigation began in response to a petition presented to Parliament in June 2015.

Quite simply, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society were able to get 8,975 signatures on a petition, but could muster less than half that number in actual submissions, said Mr Jansen. By contrast, 16,411 people took the opportunity to say no to euthanasia.

Opposition to euthanasia was dominant across all submission lengths. For example, of the submissions longer than one page, 1,510 submissions opposed euthanasia while 523 supported its legalisation.

Mr Jansen added that While the Care Alliance never argues this issue from a faith perspective, we respect the right of any New Zealander to do so, for or against, if they wish. That is a real and existing right protected by the Bill of Rights Act. In the event, more than 82 percent of submissions opposed to euthanasia contained no reference to religious arguments.

Mr Jansen said that many of the submissions, for and against, contained deeply moving personal stories regarding illness, dying and suicide. The Select Committee has been provided with incredible testimony. We trust that they will hear that there is much more that needs to be done to improve mental health, disability and end of life services in New Zealand, but that the overwhelming majority of submitters say that euthanasia is not a solution.

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Health Select Committee: 77 per cent oppose euthanasia - New Zealand Doctor Online

Farmers demand euthanasia The Hindu A group of sugarcane farmers has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding euthanasia. The farmers also asserted that the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister must take a decision over ... and more »

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Farmers demand euthanasia - The Hindu

MANCHESTER, England The Vatican is investigating the decision of a group of psychiatric care centers run by a Catholic religious order in Belgium to permit doctors to perform euthanasia of nonterminal mentally ill patients on its premises.

Brother Rene Stockman, superior general of the Brothers of Charity, told Catholic News Service that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, is personally examining the situation.

Brother Stockman complained directly to Rome after the Brothers of Charity Group, which runs 15 centers for psychiatric patients across Belgium, rejected a formal request from him to reverse the new policy.

RELATED:Belgian priests push back on euthanasia directive for Catholic hospitals

In a May 4 email to CNS, Stockman said: Because it is a matter of the Belgian group, I informed the Belgian bishops conference in order to ask for their opinion and to ask a clear statement of them.

At the same time, I am in contact with the Vatican the Congregation (for Institutes) of Consecrated Life (and Societies of Apostolic Life) and the secretary of state who asked me for more information, said Stockman, a psychiatric care specialist.

I hope that there will come a clear answer from the Belgian bishops and the Vatican, he continued. I have trust in it.

He suggested that the new policy could force the brothers from providing psychiatric care in Belgium.

Stockman said: I wait for the clear answer of the church and that answer will be presented to our organization, in the hope that it will adapt its vision I hope we will not have to withdraw our responsibility in the field of mental health care in the place where we started as a congregation with such care more than 200 years ago.

The Brothers of Charity was founded in 1807 in Ghent, Belgium, by Father Peter Joseph Triest, whose cause for beatification was opened in 2001.

Inspired by the spirituality of St. Vincent de Paul and dedicated to working with the elderly and the mentally ill, the order initially was known as the Hospital Brothers of St. Vincent and spread to 30 countries.

In the Flanders region of Belgium, the group is considered to be the most important provider of mental health care services, serving 5,000 patients a year. The order also runs schools, employing about 12,000 staff nationwide.

The Brothers of Charity Group announced it would allow euthanasia on its premises in a nine-page document in March, about a year after a private Catholic rest home in Diest, Belgium, was fined $6,600 for refusing the euthanasia of a 74-year-old woman suffering from lung cancer.

About 12 psychiatric patients in the care of the Brothers of Charity are believed to have asked for euthanasia over the past year, with two of them being transferred elsewhere to receive the injections to end their lives.

The new policy document harmonizes the practices of the centers in the group with Belgian law on euthanasia.

It sought to balance the Catholic belief in the inviolability of innocent human life with duty of care under the law and with the demands of patient autonomy.

Stockman said, however, that for the brothers, respect of life is absolute and cannot be offered for the autonomy of the patient.

The groups largely lay board of directors, he said, see euthanasia as a medical act, but the brothers cannot accept it as a medical act.

Finally, they agree that euthanasia should be done inside the institutes, he said. We always refused to let euthanasia be done inside the walls of the center.

He rejected suggestions that many of the Brothers themselves favored the policy, insisting instead that the order upholds the doctrine of the Catholic and cannot accept the law on euthanasia.

Stockman said: The whole mentality in Belgium is changing very fast and there is pressure from the government against any refusal of euthanasia. But until now, the institutes have had the right to refuse.

I see it as a real crisis and I call it a door that is opened and cannot be closed anymore, he added. More groups will be touched by it: It started with somatic suffering, now psychiatric suffering, afterward people with a severe handicap, elderly people and so on.

Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2003, a year after the Netherlands became the first country since Nazi Germany to introduce the procedure.

Technically, euthanasia in Belgium remains an offense, with the law protecting doctors from prosecution only if they abide by specific criteria.

In 2014, the law was extended to emancipated children, and doctors are increasingly giving lethal injections to people who are disabled, demented or mentally ill.

Continued here:

Vatican launches Belgium euthanasia investigation - Crux: Covering all things Catholic