Dutch Pass Law Allowing Euthanasia

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, April 10 (AP)--With thousands of pro-life activists praying outside, Parliament enacted a euthanasia law Tuesday making the Netherlands the first nation to let doctors end the lives of patients suffering unbearably and without hope.

The vote of 46-28 was the final legislative step, endorsing an earlier vote by the lower house last November.

``I hereby declare the proposal adopted,'' said Chairman Frits Korthals Altes, after two days of debate.

An estimated 10,000 people gathered outside in one last show of discontent. Many sang hymns and quoted the Bible, then marched silently past the building where Senate debated the proposal.

The bill is likely to take effect this summer.

The law formalizes a practice discreetly used in Dutch hospitals and homes for decades, turning guidelines adopted by Parliament in 1993 into legally binding requirements.

Those guidelines presuppose a long doctor-patient relationship, and exclude the possibility of euthanasia for nonresidents of the Netherlands.

Before the vote, Health Minister Els Borst gave a final assurance that the supervisory provisions guaranteed the law could not be abused by doctors and protected patients from unwanted euthanasia.

Outside the parliament building, some protesters stood masked in black balaclavas and carried oversized syringes dripping with blood-red liquid. Others gathered signatures for a petition that already had 25,000 names before the debate opened Monday evening.

Several Christian schools canceled classes to allow students from across the country to participate in the demonstrations.

``We don't have the right to decide about matters of life and death, but God does,'' said 19-year-old Henrico van der Hoek as he walked passed Parliament. ``As Christians, we simply cannot support this law.''

In the weeks preceding the debate, the upper house was swamped with an unusual amount of mail--about 60,000 urging the bill to be killed.

Despite the strong showing of opponents on Tuesday, van der Hoek, who belongs to the Dutch Reformed Church, admitted he is one of a small minority in the Netherlands, once a stronghold of Christian politics.

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