"Handiphobia" Leading Cause of Euthanasia

[The Straight Story]

"Handiphobia" Leading Cause of Euthanasia

Interview With Neonatologist Carlo Bellieni

SIENA, Italy, MAY 6, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The desire to do away with personal suffering is one of the driving forces behind euthanasia, an attitude described as "handiphobia," says an Italian neonatologist.

In this interview with ZENIT, Dr. Carlo Bellieni, of the Le Scotte Polyclinic of Sienna, talks about the phobia of handicap and the real reasons for incidences of euthanasia.

Q: The Groningen declaration (an agreement between the Dutch judicial authorities and Groningen's university clinic that authorized euthanasia in children under 12 without their consent) brought back to the center the problem of euthanasia in regard to newborns. How does a doctor of neonatology feel about such a possibility?

Bellieni: The first incredulity lies in the fact that today we have available in the area of neonatology analgesic drugs of such strength that to think that recourse is taken to euthanasia in cases of unacceptable pain is really anachronistic. The problem is that analgesic drugs must be used, but there are still resistances.


http://www.zenit.org/english/

[undeterred]

1. Does the resistance involve fear that the patient will become addicted

or is there an attitude towards suffering and pain that gets in the way?