The Belgian charity’s administrative headquarters in Rome issued a statement in May, arguing that allowing euthanasia “goes against the basic principles” of the Catholic Church. “This is disloyal, outrageous and unacceptable.”Mattias De Vriendt, a spokesperson for the Belgium charity, said it had received the Vatican’s request but had not yet responded. He said the charity’s hospitals had received requests from patients seeking euthanasia recently but could not say whether any procedures had been performed. The vast majority of patients seeking euthanasia in Belgium have a fatal illness like cancer or a degenerative disease. The American Psychiatric Association says that doctors should not prescribe any methods to people who are not terminally ill to help them die.

Source: thestar August 10, 2017 14:03 UTC