Rick Santorum's comments of euthanasia in The Netherlands:

Proving once again that when it comes to the 2012 Republican

presidential race, cluelessness never seems to go out of style.

NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands

Rick Santorum Dead Wrong on Euthanasia in The Netherlands

"In The Netherlands, people wear different bracelets if they are elderly. And the bracelet is: Do not euthanize me. Because they have voluntary euthanasia in The Netherlands, but half of the people who are euthanized - ten percent of all deaths in The Netherlands - half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals because they are older and sick."

By Guus Valk

Translated By Jan de Vries

February 24, 2012

The Netherlands - NRC Handelsblad - Original Article (Dutch)

This is how it began. It was three weeks ago when Rick Santorum attended a forum discussion in Columbia, Missouri. The subject of euthanasia came up, and Santorum, of course, used The Netherlands to paint a frightening picture:

"In The Netherlands, people wear different bracelets if they are elderly. And the bracelet is: Do not euthanize me. Because they have voluntary euthanasia in The Netherlands, but half of the people who are euthanized - ten percent of all deaths in The Netherlands - half of those people are euthanized involuntarily at hospitals because they are older and sick. And so elderly people in The Netherlands dont go to the hospital. They go to another country, because they are afraid, because for budget purposes, they will not come out of that hospital if they go in there with sickness."

So - euthanasia accounts for 10 percent of all deaths in The Netherlands - and half of those are performed involuntarily. The American press let the statements speak for themselves, confirming that there was no truth to them. But the issue really took off this week when the "War Room," the campaign site of De Jaap, dedicated an article to it. The author, Bertine Moenaff, provides a translation of an article from Buzz Feed, which picked up the issue - and suddenly the story gathered steam in America.

Posted by WORLDMEETS.US

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