The majority of the Health and Care Committee of the Storting, the Parliament of Norway, has rejected the proposal from the Liberal Party (Venstre) that the Government study how to introduce into Norwegian legislation a right to «self-determined termination of life». The committee presented its opinion on 3 November and only the Progress Party (Frp) was in favour of the investigation, according to EWTN Norway. The country’s Catholic bishops, meeting in the Norwegian Catholic Episcopal Council, have welcomed the decision with satisfaction.
The plenary session of the Storting is scheduled to debate the matter on 17 November. Until then, the committee’s opinion does not definitively close the issue, but it marks the direction of the parliamentary majority in a matter in which several European countries have moved in recent years towards legalisation.
The bishops called for not «opening the door» to euthanasia
On 14 September, bishops Fredrik Hansen, of Oslo, and Erik Varden, prelate of Trondheim and apostolic administrator of Tromsø, signed a statement addressed to the committee entitled «Do not open the door to euthanasia in Norway». In it, they advised «in the strongest terms» against approving proposal 264 S (2025-2026), because its own text, they argued, already assumes a right to assisted death, so that an official investigation would be a political and value-laden step towards its introduction.
The prelates also criticised the proposal for lacking an in-depth ethical discussion and an analysis of the consequences for the most vulnerable groups, and for not mentioning human dignity. As examples of limits that ended up being expanded, they cited Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada, and recalled the 2014 Belgian extension to minors.
«Help to live, not help to die»
In their statement, the bishops affirm that society’s response to those in need of help «must be help to live, not help to die», and that «human dignity does not depend on our autonomy». They also emphasise the difference between allowing a person to die naturally from their illness and causing their death, and distinguish euthanasia from the refusal of futile or disproportionately burdensome treatments.
After the opinion was made public, Varden warned that seriously ill people, the elderly and people with disabilities may come to feel pressured to choose death for fear of being a burden. «The value of the person does not diminish when we need others», the bishop declared, adding: «This is the fundamental principle to which we must hold fast». Hansen, for his part, recalled the experience of Canada, the Netherlands and Belgium, where initially restrictive regimes were extended to more groups of patients.
The bishops offer, as an alternative, improving palliative care and strengthening support for those who need help in their daily lives, and they are willing to assume greater responsibility in palliative care if the authorities so wish.
A matter that InfoVaticana follows in other countries
The issue of assisted death is also being debated outside Europe. A few days ago, InfoVaticana reported that the Archbishop of New York, Ronald Hicks, has joined the lawsuit of several religious congregations against the obligations arising from the state law on assisted suicide.