Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge said at a government meeting that the rules needed to be changed to help “a small group of terminally ill children who agonize hopelessly and with unbearable pain”.
At present, this group of children in the Netherlands may be granted palliative care or, in accordance with the rules in force, may be deprived of food, thus speeding up their death. Any other action by a doctor to speed up the termination of a child’s life may be a criminal offense.
According to research, legalizing the euthanasia of such young children could lead to the separation of five to ten children each year who have no hope of improving their health.
In order to be able to perform euthanasia, the patient must have an incurable disease and suffer unbearable pain. There must also be at least two doctors who agree to perform the procedure.
At present, children over the age of 12 can voluntarily leave the Netherlands through euthanasia. In addition to the consent of the untreated patient, parental consent is required. It is also legal in the Netherlands to euthanize terminally ill babies up to 1 year of age with parental consent.
The Minister of Health points out that the current laws should not be changed, but doctors should be released from criminal liability for performing a confirmed einatasia on a child at this age.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legal in the Netherlands since 2002, and a few months later legalized in neighboring Belgium. Both countries were the first in the world to legalize this practice, albeit under very strict conditions. Last year, 6,361 people in the Netherlands died in this way, which is just over 4% of all deaths in the country.
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A 17-year-old Noah died in the Netherlands following a request for euthanasia.
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The first case in history: euthanasia is accused – the patient did not want to die
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In 2014, Belgium became the first country to allow voluntary euthanasia of children with parental consent if they are terminally ill and in pain. This procedure was performed for the first time for two children in 2016 and 2017. One was 9 years old and the other 11 years old.
Shortly afterwards, the Netherlands introduced the same rules for euthanasia for children over 12 years of age.
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