1.  Although illegal, euthanasia is practiced in the Netherlands, where prosecutions are not brought if strict guidelines are followed.

2.  But he did not say he himself had practiced euthanasia in France, where it is illegal.

3.  French Health Minister Bernard Kouchner was quoted Wednesday as admitting he had practiced euthanasia on dying patients and urging the decriminalization of marijuana in France.

4.  He also compared doctors who perform late-term abortions to Nazi doctors who practiced euthanasia.

5.  Schat is being prosecuted for ignoring government-approved guidelines which guarantee immunity to doctors who practice euthanasia.

6.  The case highlights the fact that many doctors in the Netherlands practice euthanasia without reporting what they have done.

7.  The law states that patients must be suffering unbearably with no hope of recovery in order for doctors to legally practice euthanasia.

8.  The law states that patients must be suffering unbearably with no hope of recovery in order for doctors to practice euthanasia legally.

9.  Thousands of terminally ill patients die every year under the Dutch mercy-killing guidelines, which guarantee immunity to doctors who practice euthanasia.