Belgian Senate approves child euthanasia

The euthanasia train continues to run off the rails in Belgium, where the Belgian Senate has just voted to allow the euthanasia of children.

Belgium took a big step on Thursday to becoming the first country to allow euthanasia for incurably ill children, after the upper house of Parliament voted by a large majority to extend to minors a 2002 law legalizing the practice for adults.

Under the amended law, euthanasia would become legal for children afflicted with “constant and unbearable physical suffering” and equipped “with a capacity of discernment.” During a sometimes heated public debate in the run-up to the vote, religious leaders condemned the move as entering “a logic that leads to the destruction of society’s foundations.”

Philippe Mahoux, a Socialist Party senator and sponsor of the legislation, described giving terminally ill children the right to “die in dignity” as the “ultimate gesture of humanity.” He dismissed the religious leaders’ criticism, saying it was unrepresentative of the views of many ordinary believers, who he said supported the legal change.

Of course, Belgium’s euthanasia laws — which are supposedly only meant for those who are terminally ill or those in extreme suffering — are already going so well that of course they would want to include children. Remember, in Belgium people suffering from depression and anorexia are allowed to be euthanized, as well as people who have disabilities. It bodes well for children who will be killed under their new program, doesn’t it?