Scottish Catholic Observer

The King of Belgium has signed a law abolishing age restrictions on euthanasia, making Belgium the first country in the world to extend the practice to terminally ill children below the age of 12.

The controversial bill, passed last month by the Belgian Parliament by 86 votes to 44 with 12 abstentions, has been met with heavy criticism, with more than 160 Belgian paediatric doctors opposing the change.

The bill allows for euthanasia without an age limit for children who are in ‘a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering’ as long as parent approval is given. The signing of the bill by King Philippe (above) is the last step in the passing of the new law.

Belgium is one of only three countries were euthanasia is legal. Luxembourg and the Netherlands also allow the practice, with the Dutch allowing children aged 12 and over the right to die.

Religious groups and many disability campaigners oppose the law. John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Centre in Philadelphia and a member of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life, called the developments a ‘terrible situation’ and said that children aren’t capable of making the choice to end their own life.

“So what is really going to happen is that… parents and physicians are going to be making those decisions for children, to eliminate them because they’ve become excessive burdens on them and on the rest of society,” Mr Haas said.

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