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Latvia rejects euthanasia

The Latvian Parliament has rejected a public petition that called for the legalisation of euthanasia.

On 25 March, after a citizens initiative collected 10,000 signatures, the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) voted 49 to 38 against legalising euthanasia in Latvia.

Saeima Deputy Dr Vitālijs Orlovs said during the debate: “I understand what the initiative is about, but I was taught to fight for patients’ lives to the end. I cannot imagine injecting a person with some substance to help them die — not for any amount of money”.

According to the Latvian public broadcaster LSM.LV, representatives saw this debate as an opportunity to discuss improving end of life care more generally for Latvians.

Opposition MP Viktors Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers) said euthanasia is “absolutely unacceptable” because it ignores a number of problems in palliative care. At the same time, Valainis stated that he was prepared to do everything necessary to improve the medical sector in the country.

Similarly, Saeima deputy Anda Čakša said that the topic of euthanasia should not be discussed until the issue of palliative care is resolved in the country.

The Netherlands: “a model” for euthanasia

The author of the petition, Pēteris Buks, drew attention to the Netherlands as a model for what euthanasia in Latvia could look like.

The Netherlands first introduced euthanasia in 2002 and since then has significantly expanded the scope of the law. Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge outlined his plans to introduce euthanasia for children age one to twelve.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The last two decades have seen an enormous push by the pro-euthanasia and pro-assisted suicide lobby across Europe. It has been successful in Belgium and the Netherlands, and has more recently been joined by Spain and Luxembourg. However, strong opposition to this dangerous legislation remains. In the UK, Parliament has consistently rejected attempts to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide. Most recently in 2015 with the defeat of the Marris-Falconer Bill, which was defeated 330-118. Similarly, politicians in France last week rejected legislation to introduce euthanasia into the country”.

“As this case in Latvia illustrates, part of the push for euthanasia is driven by real or perceived inadequacies in end of life care, particularly the provision of palliative care. Effective and widespread palliative care can go a long way towards dissuading people from ending their lives by euthanasia or assisted suicide”.

​​Dear reader,

On Friday 29 November, MPs narrowly voted to support Kim Leadbeater’s dangerous assisted suicide Bill at Second Reading.

But this is only the first step - there’s still time to stop it.

An analysis published in The Independent shows that at least 36 MPs who supported the Bill made it clear they did so only to allow time for further debate or they have concerns that mean they won’t commit to supporting the Bill at Third Reading.

With the vote passing by a margin of 55, just 28 MPs switching their stance to oppose the Bill would ensure it is defeated at Third Reading.

With more awareness of the serious risks, many MPs could change their position.

If enough do, we can defeat this Bill at Third Reading and stop it from becoming law.

You can make a difference right now by contacting your MP to vote NO at Third Reading. It only takes 30 seconds using our easy-to-use tool, which you can access by clicking the button below.