Belgium is one of the few countries where euthanasia is legal and now the country has taken the practice to the next level by abolishing age restriction on mercy killing.
Belgium legalized euthanasia in May 2002 to give the terminally ill the "right to die". Children were originally included in the proposal but were excluded in the final legislation. A new bill, however, sought to extend the euthanasia law to kids below 18 years old, so long as they meet certain strict conditions, such as they have a terminal illness, there is no available treatment to alleviate their pain, they understand the meaning and implications of euthanasia, and their request has been approved by their parents and medical team.
The bill had received wide support in the country. Karine Lalieux, a Socialist member of the House of Representatives, who is in favor of the new law, said that everyone should be allowed to live and die with dignity. "'Our responsibility is to allow everybody to live, but also to die, in dignity,'' she said.
The bill, however, was also opposed by critics who fear that vulnerable children will be talked into making an irreversible choice. "A child cannot buy a house in Belgium. A child cannot buy alcohol in Belgium. And this law would allow a child to ask to be killed. And that is a real problem," said Carine Brochier of the European Institute of Bioethics in Brussels.
Religious groups, in particular, were against the bill. "We are opening a door that nobody will be able to close," Archbishop Andre Leonard, chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Belgium, told the Associated Press. "There is a risk of very serious consequences in the long term for society and the meaning we give to life, death and the freedom of human beings."
Still, the bill was passed in the parliament on Thursday, with 86 lawmakers voting in favor, 44 against, and 12 abstentions, making Belgium the first country in the world to remove age restrictions on euthanasia. It was already backed by the Senate when it decided to adopt the legislation with wide margin in favor of the supporters last December. The legislation is also supported by the public. A survey found that 75 percent of Belgians are in favor of extending euthanasia law to children.
All that is needed now is the signature of King Philippe, Belgium's constitutional head of state, and the euthanasia law will extend to children within weeks.
