A Life Worth Living? Disabled People and Euthanasia in Belgium

In the United Kingdom those actively opposed to the legalising of euthanasia or assisted suicide comprise a ‘broad church’. One element of that opposition which has proved particularly effective is the ‘disabled lobby’. This is not to say that all disabled people oppose euthanasia, but that the lived experience of disabled people has been a potent source of social criticism about how such laws may stem from, and may reinforce, prejudice against them, solely on the grounds of their disability. Such fears about what may come with euthanasia are far from unfounded, and when that ‘disabled voice’ is heard, many legislators reconsider what they had previously viewed as ‘simple humanity’. This chapter examines why the ‘disabled voice’ seems so muted in the euthanasia debate in Belgium. It also examines why there seems to be a cultural attitude, implicit in Belgian legislation, towards certain forms of dependence and disability which are seen as a threat to dignity to be overcome by euthanasia. The chapter considers why it is important for those opposed to euthanasia to address the hard cases which call for recognition but which also carry implications for others.