The Hague, Netherlands - The Dutch government has recommended decriminalizing mercy killing, a proposal that would take its world-renowned liberal eutlianasia policy out of a legal gray area.

”It was agreed that to decriminalize euthanasia is the logical step of the policy we have had so far,” Justice Ministry spokesman Wijnand Stevens said yesterday.

Although thousands of terminally ill patients ask for and receive euthanasia each year in the Netherlands, the practice remains officially outlawed.