American Journal of Bioethics.
The Groningen Protocol allows active euthanasia of severely ill
newborns with unbearable suffering. Defenders of the protocol insist
that the protocol refers to terminally ill infants and that quality of
life should not be a factor in the decision to euthanize an infant.
They also argue that there should be no ethical difference between
active and passive euthanasia of these infants. However, nowhere in the
protocol does it refer to terminally ill infants; on the contrary, the
developers of the protocol take into account the future quality of life
of the infant. We also note how the Nazi Euthanasie Programm
started with the premise that there is some life not worthy of living.
Therefore, in our opinion, the protocol violates the traditional
ethical codes of physicians and the moral values of the overwhelming
majority of the citizens of the world.
