The approval would make it the first country to formally legalize the practice, leading the Vatican to call it ``a sad record for Holland.''
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the law ``violates human dignity.''
The bill passed by a vote of 104-40. It still needs the approval of the Senate, which is considered a formality, and is expected to enter into force next year.
Navarro-Valls said the approval also conflicts with a 1948 declaration of an international medical association and the principles approved by medical associations in the European Community in 1987.
``The approval of a law that divides lawmakers and public opinion, a law that violates human dignity, is certainly a sad record for Holland'' the Vatican spokesman told The Associated Press.
