CNA Newsroom, Oct 3, 2022 / 06:30 am
The European Court of Human Rights is set to rule in a landmark euthanasia case on Tuesday on whether Belgium wrongly allowed a woman to be euthanized by lethal injection on the grounds of “untreatable depression.”
Tom Mortier is the son of Godelieva de Troyer, who died in 2012 after she had approached the country’s leading euthanasia advocate, who ultimately agreed to euthanize her despite being a cancer specialist.
Before her death by euthanasia at age 64, neither her son nor any family member was consulted, according to a statement by the Christan legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF International).
Mortier says that Belgium violated the European Convention on Human Rights for failing to adequately protect the right to life of his mother, who suffered severe mental difficulties and coped with depression throughout her life.