Netherlands: Legalization of the euthanasia of children between the ages of 1 and 12 without their consent.

Author / Source : IEB Published on : 05/02/2024 Thematic : End of life / Euthanasia and assisted suicide News Temps de lecture : 1 min.

Since 1 February 2024, government regulations have made it possible to end the lives of children aged between 1 and 12 suffering from an incurable terminal illness. These are children with congenital malformations of the brain, lungs or heart, for example, or with metabolic diseases. For Eduard Verhagen, Director of the Beatrix UMCG Children's Hospital, there is no point in prolonging the lives of these children, whose suffering seems intractable.

These regulations for children aged between 1 and 12 are an extension of the regulations of the "Committee for the Evaluation of Late Termination of Pregnancy and Termination of Life of Newborns" (LZA Newborns Regulations), which have been in existence since 2005. This authorization of euthanasia of newborn babies, or "post-natal abortion", refers to the "Groningen Protocol", developed by Professor Verhagen in 2005.

The provisions of the new regulations are identical to those for the euthanasia of newborn babies:

The doctor must be convinced that the child is suffering from "desperate and unbearable suffering";
"Discontinuation of medical treatment is justified";
No therapeutic option can be considered.

According to Professor Verhagen, although it is not possible to obtain the consent of children, their wishes would be considered whenever possible. However, how can it be conceived that a child aged between 1 and 12 could freely and knowingly express the wish to die? Are we not talking here about the wishes of adults who are powerless to relieve a child's suffering?

In 2022, this same professor said: "Euthanasia is not the right word, because the law on euthanasia does not apply here. [Euthanasia] is based on the capacity to give consent, which the patient can request for his or her own end of life. These children are not always capable of doing so. Active interruption of life is the right term". Beyond the impossibility for these children to consent to such a serious and irreversible act, the major ethical concern remains the fact of considering euthanasia as an ultimate response to the suffering of vulnerable people.