False claim the Dutch are euthanizing people to ‘save the planet' | Fact check

Isabella Fertel, USA TODAY
Updated ·4 min read
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The claim: Doctors in the Netherlands are euthanizing disabled citizens to 'save the planet'

A June 29 article from The People’s Voice claims a European country has taken a dramatic new step to address climate change.

“Netherlands Begins Euthanizing Disabled People To ‘Save the Planet,’” reads the article’s headline.

The article was shared more than 300 times in one week, according to the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle.

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Our rating: False

Medically assisted euthanasia in the Netherlands is performed only upon the patient’s request and follows strict legal procedures. The article was published by a website that regularly publishes fabricated stories.

Dutch euthanasia requires consent

The Netherlands was the first country to decriminalize voluntary euthanasia for patients facing “unremitting and unbearable suffering” in 2001.

The article claims the country is now euthanizing "citizens with autism and other minor disabilities, without fear of prosecution even if the patient no longer expresses a wish to die."

But Sandra Genet, a spokesperson for the Dutch government's Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, called the claim "misinformation" in an email, referencing the country's official Euthanasia Code.

The article cites a recent study investigating reports of euthanasia in people with intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorders in the Netherlands as evidence.

But the article misrepresents the study’s findings and the nature of legal euthanasia in the Netherlands, according to Dr. Irene Tuffrey-Wijne, a professor of intellectual disability and palliative care at Kingston University in London, who is one of the study’s authors.

The article correctly states that the study found multiple individuals with intellectual disabilities, including autism, who decided to end their lives in accordance with Dutch law. But Tuffrey-Wigne said none of the euthanizations were conducted without the patients' consent, or for the sake of the planet.

“Doctors are not 'ordered' to perform euthanasia,” Tuffrey-Wijne told USA TODAY in an email. “There are very strict guidelines about this. It can only be done at the patient’s explicit request."

In order for a person to be euthanized under the law, the physician must determine that the termination of life is “at the patient’s own request” and that the patient’s suffering “is unbearable with no prospect of improvement,” according to the Government of the Netherlands’ website.

Doctors reserve the right to deny a patient’s request for euthanasia and refer patients to a different medical professional. And patients reserve the right to withdraw their consent, Tuffrey-Wijne said.

Cases are reviewed and audited by a committee of at least three experts, including a “medical doctor, an ethicist and a legal expert” to assure all of the legal requirements are met.

Tuffrey-Wigne told USA TODAY she had never encountered a case of euthanasia for the purpose of “saving the planet.”

“The only acceptable reason is the patient’s own perception of their unbearable suffering,” Tuffrey-Wijne said.

Fact check: Medically assisted suicide is available for adults in Canada, not children

The People’s Voice article also references the New York Post’s coverage of the same study, but the Post does not make any connection between legal euthanasia and climate change.

The People's Voice, previously known as NewsPunch, has a lengthy history of publishing fabricated stories, many of which have been debunked by USA TODAY.

USA TODAY reached out to the People’s Voice and for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

Lead Stories also debunked this claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Consent is required for Dutch euthanasia, contrary to post | Fact check