The Belgian Constitutional Court declared that the country’s euthanasia law is unconstitutional and must be amended. Thomas Moller-Nielsen reported for The Brussels Times on October 21 that:
The ruling does not imply that euthanasia is, or soon will be, illegal in Belgium: rather, it merely notes that key provisions of the law cannot be consistently reconciled with Belgium’s Constitution.»
In its written judgment, the Court concluded that Article 3 of the current euthanasia law implies that violation of the so-called ‘procedural’ conditions for legally ending someone’s life is punishable by the same standards as the violation of so-called ‘fundamental’ conditions.
The Belgian Constitutional Court decision was based on the Tine Nys case. Nys died by euthanasia based on psychological suffering. She was approved based on being diagnosed with autism but her family states that she asked for euthanasia based on a broken love relationship.
