Terminally-ill kids aged nine and 11 become youngest ever to be euthanised after Belgium allows them to legally take their own lives
Belgium authorities have allowed two children under the age of 12 who suffered from terminal illnesses to be euthanised by lethal injection
TWO kids with terminal illnesses have become the youngest ever people to be euthanised after Belgium authorities allowed them to decide whether to live or die.
The children, aged nine and 11, were given lethal injections in the European country which permits children with terminal illnesses who are in “unbearable suffering” to choose to die.
The cases, which happened in 2016 and 2017, were revealed in a report by the CFCEE – the commission that regulates euthanasia in Belgium, and their ages were confirmed by a Belgian official.
It said that doctors in Belgium had given lethal injections to three children over the two-year period, including a 17-year-old who was suffering from muscular dystrophy.
The nine-year-old suffered from a brain tumour while the 11-year-old had cystic fibrosis.
A member of the CFCEE told The Washington Post there were the first children under the age of 12 to be euthanised anywhere.
Belgium changed its euthanasia law in 2014, giving doctors the legal right to terminate the life of a child, no matter how young the patient was.
But the child must be judged to have the mental capacity to make the decision and must also have parental consent.
The initial report, published on July 17, only indicated three minors were euthanised between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017 but only said they were under 18.
However an official confirmed their ages to the Washington Post.
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Luc Proot, a member of the CFCEE, defended the decision to allow the euthanasia cases, saying: “I saw mental and physical suffering so overwhelming that I thought we did a good thing.”
Prof Stefaan Van Gool, a child cancer specialist in Belgium, said: "There is, in fact, no objective tool today available that really can help you say 'this child has the full competence or capacity to give with full understanding informed consent'."
Wim Distelmans, head of the Belgian euthanasia commission countered: “Thankfully, there are very few children who fit the criteria, but that doesn’t mean that we should refuse (them) the right to die with dignity.”