Did the Dutch learn much when the Nazis stayed overnight?

When I imagine the great metaphysical parade of Europe, as it marches on to what it thinks is its brave new world of postmodern freedom, I increasingly see the Dutch marching right up front. Reuters reports that Dutch doctors who have been euthanizing babies with spina bifida will not be prosecuted despite the fact that it is against Dutch law.

Let's take a look at the Reuters dispatch, which appears unselfconsciously in the "Parenting/Kids" area at Yahoo's "Health" news section:

The study, published in the latest edition of the Dutch Journal of Medicine, found doctors had reported 22 cases between 1997 and 2004 of euthanasia of babies with spina bifida, a disabling birth defect affecting the spinal column.

Dutch prosecutors dismissed all cases after judicial reviews, the journal said in a summary on its Web Site. Dutch media said the study showed prosecutors had decided against charging doctors as long as four unofficial rules were met.

The criteria for baby euthanasia were that the newborn had no chance of survival and was suffering unbearably, the doctor had to consult at least one other, the parents had to agree and the life must be ended in the correct medical way.

Eduard Verhagen, paediatrician at the Groningen University Medical Center and one of the authors of the study, told De Volkskrant newspaper he hoped to encourage doctors to report such cases without fear of prosecution.

"The babies are there but we were never allowed to talk about them. That must change. If we take this awfully difficult decision, it must happen with complete openness," he said.

"You are trained to save the life of a child but with these children the suffering can only be stopped by ending their lives. It takes courage to do that."

Another survey has suggested Dutch doctors end the lives of about 15 to 20 disabled newborns a year but most go unreported.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalise euthanasia. But doctors must obey strict rules.

As to that final sentence, apparently not. The second paragraph quoted above says that doctors must obey four "unofficial rules," which doesn't comport with anything that I recognize as strict. Who, for instance, is the authoritative maker of "unofficial rules?" And how does one enforce them?

Dr. Eduard Verhagen is quoted on what "courage" it takes to dispatch these children. On the other hand, the Spina Bifida Association of America has a different take on what lies ahead for these kids:

Thanks to new medical treatments and technology, most people born with spina bifida can expect to live a normal life. People with spina bifida have many special challenges because of their birth defect, but their condition does not define who they are. People with spina bifida have careers, get married and have children just like people who don’t have spina bifida.

It was the Nazis who began their pernicious little stay at the top of the dung heap by murdering the handicapped. The Dutch seemed to have taken something away from the experience of Nazi occupation, perhaps without even knowing it.

I'm sure it's really just a matter of me not understanding the cruel realities of Dutch courage.