Dutch cabinet agrees to legalise euthanasia for children
A woman holds an oxygen mask over the face of her baby. Photo AFP, Sergei Supinsky
Western Europe
The Dutch coalition agrees on the necessity of a regulation that makes euthanasia possible for children who are severely ill.
According to the Cabinet, physicians should be allowed to terminate the life of children between 1 and 12 years. At the same time, euthanasia should only be used exceptionally on children in the case of a terminal illness. That is reported by the Dutch daily Nederlands Dagblad.
The Cabinet, which met on Friday, expects ten to fifteen children to be euthanised yearly. Health Minister Ernst Kuipers hoped this number could be reduced further by finding new treatments.
Currently, Dutch legislation includes a law for euthanasia for children up to one year old. This existing legislation is now expanded for children up to twelve years of age. After that, the regular end-of-life law applies.
Last option
According to the Nederlands Dagblad, children's doctors had asked for a regulation for "children who suffer hopelessly and unbearably, for whom palliative care is insufficient and who are expected to die within a short period." The Cabinet added that it is only meant for a small group for whom euthanasia is the last option to end the suffering.
There will be one review committee to judge whether children are eligible for euthanasia. It consists of four medical experts, one ethical professional and a judicial expert who is also the commission's president. Its task is to judge whether euthanasia cases of minors have been carried out carefully. It then advises the public prosecutor, who has to look at every individual case of the euthanasia of children. However, the prosecutor will likely let the case go if the commission rules that it has been carried out carefully.
There are no specific requirements in the new regulation for the euthanasia of minors. The only guideline is that physicians must use the most recent medical findings to conclude that euthanasia is the only option to end the child's suffering.
The Cabinet expects that euthanasia will become possible for children sometime this year. It is not an official change in law, but rather a ministerial regulation that can be implemented more easily.
Incapacitated
The Christian parties SGP and Christian Union are disappointed with the decision to legalise euthanasia for children. Chairwoman Mirjam Bikker from the Christian Union says to the Nederlands Dagblad that it is "intensely sad when a young child, often no older than six years, will almost die, and even more when it suffers much pain in the last days." She adds that it is an "illusion that the government can take away such suffering. Doctors can, together with the parents, best determine what the best in these situations is."
Reformed SGP MP Chris Stoffer finds active euthanasia of incapacitated children "a bridge too far." He is worried that the regulation will be expanded to more incapacitated people in the future. He would have liked to see a change in law instead of the current ministerial regulation.
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