The document, entitled «Euthanasia, A Defeat for Civilization,» comes as the Belgian Senate debates legislation promoting «gentle death.»
«Once again we wish to declare explicitly that to give a legal framework to euthanasia is morally unacceptable to us,» the bishops stated. «Such a law, in fact, would contradict what is at the very heart of a society respectful of human life and concerned about the most vulnerable people.»
The statement says euthanasia endangers the security of society´s most defenseless members.
«We have every reason to fear that the legal possibility to put an end to life might establish a social pressure over the weakest,» the document emphasizes. «This pressure might lead some to feel ´unwanted´ and to desire to end their life so as not to be a weight on others.»
