The president of the political party ‘Open Vld’ (Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats), Gwendolyn Rutten, considers the time is ripe to open a debate on the right to die of those who consider their life is fulfilled, she pleaded in the Belgian newspaper ‘De Morgen’.
In the last weekend of October, the newspaper ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’ published the testimony of one of the anchorwomen marking the history of radio in Flanders, Lutgart Simoens. At the age of 91, Simoens does not suffer from any illness and has been able to retain her relative quality of life. But she considers she has lived long enough and would prefer to pass on peacefully when she decides the time has come.
The conditions set down in Belgian law governing euthanasia do not allow her to do it. “I must first have to suffer in an intolerable and irrevocable way. Give me one reason why suffering should be intolerable? There are none. What I want is to be able to go to sleep peacefully, in full possession of my faculties, free of pain, and before I degenerate physically and mentally. That ought to be everyone’s right,” she explained.
The president of the Flemish liberals shares her opinion. “We must be able to choose the right to die not only when we are suffering in an intolerable
way but also when our lives are fulfilled and we request to do it explicitly, freely, independently and firmly,” Rutten emphasised.
Read more at the website of Brusselstimes.