The Dutch government has authorized euthanasia for young children suffering from unbearable and intractable pain, something Dutch pediatricians have been asking for for years, according to reports. Reuters.
Within a year, the move will apply to a “small group” of five to 10 children under the age of 12 whose “palliative care options are inadequate to alleviate their suffering,” he said. “Both assisted death is the only reasonable alternative to the unbearable and hopeless suffering of a child,” the government said in a statement.
In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia under strict conditions, requiring all cases to be reported to clinical trial boards. Euthanasia can be approved in the Netherlands for people already over 12 years of age, and for children under one year of age with parental consent.
The Netherlands would not be the first country to allow physician-assisted death for people of all ages. Belgium has allowed it since 2014.
Publisher: CLB
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