The van der Maas study suggests that there was " great resistance against the use of [terminal phase] as a criterion for the admissibility of euthanasia" . < $Fvan der Maas, p. 23.> This appears to evolve from the Dutch point of view that the essential criterion is relief of intolerable suffering, rather than only intolerable physical pain, as well as the difficulty of defining " terminal" .
L'étude van der Maas laisse entendre que les répondants avaient manifesté beaucoup de réticence quant à l'emploi de la phase terminale comme critère d'admissibilité à l'euthanasie.< $Fvan der Maas, p. 23.>