New Dutch Law Allows Parents to Euthanize Terminally Ill Children

The chilling law allows parents to euthanize children even when the children may not consent

A new law implemented in the Netherlands allows parents to euthanize terminally ill children, even when the children did not desire to end their own lives.

Live Action News reported that the law went into effect on February 1, legalizing euthanasia for children between the ages of one and 12 if they are determined to be “suffering hopelessly and unbearably.”

The Netherlands, horrifically, already allowed for babies younger than one and children older than 12 to be euthanized as well.

The law reportedly stipulates that “the child’s opinion should be sought as far as possible in a way appropriate to the child’s understanding and age.”

However, Live Action highlights, the parents may decide with a doctor to proceed with euthanasia even if the child is unable or unwilling to consent.

The Ministry of Health expects that these guidelines will only be used in a scant minority of cases and expects only 5 to 10 cases of child euthanasia a year.

However, Dutch pro-life advocates warn that the “distressing” law puts “impressionable” children at risk.

“While the ‘voluntary and well-considered request’ is an important building block of Dutch euthanasia policy, this request is absent for children,” representatives of the group NPV-Care for Life wrote in an op-ed. “Children are impressionable and are (often) not mentally competent.”

“The consequences of the scheme are far-reaching. The problem with a legal framework is that it turns an exception into a rule that creates new dilemmas,” they argued. “This opens the door to taking further steps that threaten people in vulnerable positions.”