17 year old girl legally euthanised [trigger warning] ***MNHQ note that the details of this story are disputed***

[Notabedofroses]

I am quite shocked reading that a depressed young girl called Noa Pothoven of just seventeen has just been legally euthanised by doctors in the Netherlands.

She was not terminally ill, nor was she brain dead or in a coma for twenty five year.

She was in fact depressed and anorexic.

She was raped as a child, and became depressed and had PTSD.

I can not help but feel she has been massively failed in every single way, how can it be that the doctors gave up on her? She was seventeen, and could have eventually found her way out of the darkness that is teen depression with the right help and support.

What message does it give to other teens? That the easiest way out is to die?

Many many of us are survivors of tragedies, many of us have had serious eating disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts/attempts. Those very same people have gone on to have wonderful, successful and fulfilling lives, but now she will never ever get the chance to turn this around for herself.

I can not stress how much I disagree with euthanising a child of seventeen for depression and anorexia.

Thoughts anyone?

@corythatwas But some people's problems aren't bearable, that's the whole point. Even with medication and counselling and support. I have a friend who I'm pretty sure will kill himself one day. He's been on every medication going, he's deeply involved with mental health services, he has an excellent support network, has a job and friends, but he just does not want to be alive and is quite open and candid about saying it. I think he's just waiting for his elderly dad to pass away. What's the answer here?

I did say in my post that I think 17 is probably too young and that my post was about the wider picture, but I also think we need to be realistic and realise that for some people, life will never be enjoyable or their issues will never be manageable. This will be the minority, just like with physical issues, but I don't think forcing people to spend their entire lives miserable and not wanting to be alive is really a solution. If we agree that mental pain is just as real as physical pain, then why is euthanasia acceptable for neverending physical pain but not mental?

No beach she was given end of life assistance. She did not starve to death, she was given a lethal injection.

I agree 17 is too young but I'm not sure "There is always a chance, however small, of relief in some form" is necessarilly enough assurance to veto euthanasia as a reasonable choice in many circumstance, both physical and mental.

Having experienced the agony of depression at 17, I'd say she's lucky to have the option to end her life peacefully. She doesn't have to suffer any longer, how wonderful. If I had been allowed to die peacefully as a teenager, I could have saved myself over 20 years of misery, pain and repeated suicide attempts

I can only hope you are feeling better today, and you are here posting to all of us about your experiences and that is something.

Are you getting support? Are you okay?

I too am a survivor, same age as Noa, same issues as Noa. Yes I too, would have gladly accepted a doctor putting me out of my misery too. God what I wouldn't have given to do that (at the time) it was a very very dark place.

But two years later, at nineteen I was eating again, by twenty one I was studying, and by the time I was twenty three I was living a full and happy life.

It is possible to recover.

Noa will never know whether she could have made it out, because two doctors decided she wouldn't have the chance to fight back.

Sigh, we already had this debate yesterday. From reading the girl's own post and the Dutch press there is absolutely nothing that indicates she's been euthanised. For some reason it's the foreign press that's reporting it that way.

What we know:

• she requested to be euthanised last year, this request was rejected.
• she recently stopped eating and drinking
• her last social media post says her parents and the authorities have agreed to 'let her go'. I would interpret this as they've decided not to have her institutionalised and force fed, as they have done previously.

Noa's case is incredibly sad with years of mental and physical suffering, being institutionalised, sometimes against her will, multiple times in an attempt to get her better, but nothing seemed to work. It's incredibly sad, but again, 1. from reading local media there is no indication she was euthanised, and 2. even if she were, it truly did seem like it would have been a last resort.

She choose to stop eating or drinking and the decision was made not to force feed her.
That's not the same as killing her. It's just not.

She did not starve to death, she was given a lethal injection.

Are there sources for either of these statements? I have read about a dozen articles on this and the writing seems deliberately vague. I prefer not to rush to judgement when the media chooses not to use any facts in the article.

If she was given the lethal injection then I agree that it's completely wrong. I'm not sure on the exact statistic but am aware that the majority of people that fail to commit suicide do change their minds so I could never support this.

However I'm concerned that this headline is just an attempt to emotionally sway public opinion on euthanasia. My opinion has not changed, I still believe it can be the right course of action in some circumstances, this is not one of them.

cory I sincerely hope your dd is in a much better place now, and she is getting lots and lots of help and support? What a truly awful place for you to be in as her mother. Thank goodness she has you.

There is hope, teen years can be very very difficult for some children and young adults, it is not to say she won't grow into a successful and happy woman in time, even one that needs to take very good care of her mental health.

We just can not give up on the teenagers that are struggling, no matter how bad the situation may seem at the time.

As per the pp, she wasn't euthanised at all OP. She was allowed free will to starve herself and have her tube removed without intervention.

"I too am a survivor, same age as Noa, same issues as Noa." Err... No. Op. Just no.

No two experiences are ever the same. What a terrible view to have.

www.nationalreview.com/corner/teenager-euthanized-for-post-rape-ptsd-anorexia/

Problem is Notabed, you could use the same argument for any disease there is a chance however small of finding a cure for anything..
I agree its an awful decision but a life without hope must be horrendous, we might have hope for her but looks like that poor girl didn't.

I think the Swiss laws on this clearly rule out any euthanasia for issues due to mental health or mental diminishment, for your very argument as you cannot be in your right mind to make that decision.

Sinisterburn - that's awful i'm sorry to hear that must be awful living with something like that hanging over you,

Also as for sustenance refusal, many, many aduts and children were 'legally euthanised' by this as a process by the NHS until only a few years ago OP. Look up the Liverpool Care Pathway 🙄

white Thank you for that compassionate post I was simply stating that at seventeen she should have protected, and given proper treatment, and not euthanised. I made it clear in my post that no situations are the same, mine or anyone else's.

However, at seventeen she is still technically a child, this should never have been allowed to happen.

alaimo feel free to leave the thread if you are bored.

white Liverpool pathway is for terminally ill patients in the last week of life not depressed children.

That article you posted does not say she died from Lethal injection. It you read it, it says that organs can't be harvested when lethal injection was used. Not that this is what happened. It's an extremely biased article.

There has been a lot of coverage of this, but I don't think she was euthanised. The actual text of the articles suggests that the medical team and her family didn't end her life for her. They decided not to forcibly feed her.

If you want a really concerning case of definite euthanasia, look at this report from several months ago: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/autistic-woman-euthanasia-belgium-doctors-trial-aspergers-syndrome-tine-nys-a8654421.html

Sorry that organs CAN be harvested.

Absolutely shocking. The Dutch are a bit too 'woke' for their own good in this case. Unfortunately, this is the logical conclusion of opening Pandoras Box.

Naomi o Leary a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for euronews (I don't know how to link from twitter) and contributor to the guardian and Washington post has debunked this story. It started in daily mail no surprise. She died at home in her own bed after extensive psychotherapy. Her request for legal injection was refused but a court upheld her right to refuse forced feeding. She was made comfortable and allowed to die as per her wishes.

@Notabedofroses this just isn't true. Stop perpetuating bs please. Debate the actual situation all you please but the truth is now out there. Tired old daily mail reactionary stuff serves no one.

I agree OP, you have worded your concerns very well. I used to be pro euthanasia, but since having read about how it is handled in the Netherlands, I think it can easily get out of hand. People have been euthanised for chronic alcoholism, bipolar disorder, etc. I also read about a woman with dementia who had previously stated she wanted to be euthanised, but then changed her mind. However, seeing as she was already suffering from dementia, her refusal was not legally valid and she was forcefully euthanised - they had to pin her down. Horrific and wrong imo.
I do think euthanasia should be legal for physical illness for which there is no cure, and which causes unbearable suffering and is likely to lead to a painful death, for example by suffocation, but I think it's a slippery slope and very hard to legislate correctly.

Doesn't it depend on...how MUCH she was suffering?

Regardless of whether there was an injection for euthanisation or oral medication given, she was under the 'care' of a euthanasia clinic staff at the time of her death at home. Whilst I used to be pro euthanasia- reading some of the cases in the Netherlands has changed my opinion. I don't believe they are as stringent now with the rules, and reading some of the cases that have gone ahead I think they are starting to bend what constitutes unbearable suffering- which is easy to do as unbearable suffering isn't quantifiable at all its a personal decision.

This is such a sad case, but doesn't change my view that assisted suicide, under medical supervision, is the right thing to do.

Yes, this poor girl COULD have been kept alive, but SHOULD she have been forced to stay when she didn't want to be? Who are we to decide what is right, or wrong, for someone else? We're not in their heads. We don't know what it is like to be them, living every single day in pain.

I hope that she is now at peace, and that her family are content that her suffering is now at an end. They will have my compassion, not my condemnation.

I haven't fully read through the thread but isn't PTSD considered a brain injury opposed to a mental health condition?
An MRI has and does prove this.
Not that I agree with this girl being euthanized AT ALL.
However she also wrote a book on the lack of support for psychoactive care for teenagers in the Netherlands. Can legally kill yourself but not receive report for traumatised youngsters. Beggars belief.