Belgium Parliament Approves Child Euthanasia Law

Belgium Parliament Approves Child Euthanasia Law

The Belgium parliament managed to pass a controversial bill that allows euthanasia to be used for terminally ill children regardless of age. The bill passed by a majority of 86 votes for, 44 against and 12 abstentions.

The bill has to be signed by the king before it can become law, but once this formality is done with, Belgium will officially become the only country in the world that removed the age limit for euthanasia. The law can be used in favor of terminally ill children who experience a great deal of pain and have their parents’ consent.Parliament members and some NGO’s that opposed the law said that children are not equipped to make such a difficult decision.

Today’s vote marks 12 years since Belgium passed the first law that made euthanasia legal for patient who are in a great deal of pain with no chance of improvement.

Holland, Belgium’s neighbor, also has a child euthanasia law set in place, however, it is age restricted allowing only children over the age of 12 to request euthanasia.

The law caused its fair share of outrage, with members of the public gallery at the parliament screaming “murderers” as soon as the law had passed. However, law supporters argue that before the law is even considered, parents, doctors and a psychiatrist will have to agree that it is in the best interest of the child.

Posted by James Fried on Saturday February 15 2014, 7:10 AM EST. Ref: BBC. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0