
Netherlands to broaden euthanasia rules to cover children of all ages
Following Belgium, the Netherlands is set to legalise euthanasia for children. Until now, euthanasia was only available for people over 16, children between 12 and 16 who had the permission of their parents, and children under 12 months.
“This concerns a small group of incurably ill children who are suffering hopelessly and unbearably, for whom palliative care options are not sufficient to alleviate suffering and who are expected to die in the foreseeable future,” the government stated in a press release. “For this group, termination of life is the only reasonable alternative to end the child’s hopeless and unbearable suffering. About 5 to 10 children are involved every year.”
The Health Minister, Ernst Kuipers, said that the new regulations were a necessity: “This is a particularly complex subject that deals with very distressing situations, situations you wouldn’t wish on anyone. I am pleased that, after intensive consultation with all parties involved, we have reached a solution that will help these incurably ill children, their parents and also their practitioners.”
Belgium legalised euthanasia for children in 2014. Luxembourg, where euthanasia is also legal, is open to the idea.
According to official figures, only one child between 12 and 16 was euthanised in 2022.
More Stories
Are Dutch doctors too willing to euthanise people with autism and intellectual disability?
Will legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide lead to unnecessary deaths because of an able-ist bias against intellectual disability and autism?...
Euthanasia in Quebec: seamless service at a friendly funeral parlour
In Quebec, the number of cases of euthanasia has risen from 63 in 2015-2016 to 3663 in 2021-2022. Nowadays many...
Against commercial-assisted suicide
The journal Bioethics recently published an attack on commercial assisted suicide (CAS). The author, Yoann Della Croce, condemns it as...
Norway to export sperm
Danish sperm banks have grown into a successful export industry. Now Norway seems to be following the same path. The...
Denmark: parliament pressured to OK euthanasia
A proposal to legalise euthanasia in Denmark has broken the threshold of 50,000 signatures to put it before the Danish...
Australian judges need to review standards for gender dysphoria treatment
Most judges and lawyers in Australia know little about the white-hot debate amongst doctors over appropriate treatment for gender-dysphoric children....