Roundup: Civic initiative launched to legalize euthanasia in Finland

A civic initiative was launched on Tuesday to legalize euthanasia in Finland. In the first afternoon, the proposal attracted over 5,000 signatures on the internet.

The prominent supporters published on Tuesday included Chairman of Kone Corporation Antti Herlin, former Formula One driver Mika Salo and former Governor of the Bank of Finland Sirkka Hamalainen.

According to Finnish law, a civic initiative needs 50,000 citizens backing before it can be taken up by the parliament.

The initiators of the project were five former members of parliament, including former finance minister Iiro Viinanen. The five former MPs used to represent political parties ranging from the Left League to Conservatives, the Greens, the Swedish party and the Social Democrats.

The organizers believed that the public backers of the initiative represent such a large political base that political barriers could be overcome in parliament as well.

They said 85 percent of the nation back euthanasia, and the majority of nurses and over half of the doctors accept it too.

However, the Finnish National Medical Association representing the country's doctors does not endorse the idea. Heikki Palve, CEO of the association told broadcaster Yle that most of the doctors that deal with terminal patients and palliative care oppose authorizing euthanasia.

In the European Union, euthanasia is legally allowed in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

So far, active euthanasia is illegal in Finland. Killing a person upon the person's request is also illegal and can result in a long prison sentence. But assistance in a suicide, for example making lethal medicine available without actually administering the medicine, is legal in Finland.

A private civic organization has worked for legalizing euthanasia in Finland since 1993, local media reported. Endit