The Parliament in Belgium has just voted to allow children to be euthanized by 86 votes to 44. There will be no age limit, and the law is expected to be signed by the king. This would make Belgium the first country in the world to allow children of any age to be euthanized.
And while the law is supposedly limiting euthanasia to children who are terminally ill only, it’s important to be realistic. That’s what Belgium’s laws already require for adults who choose to be euthanized, but it’s not the case at all. Their euthanasia train has run completely off the tracks, with people being euthanized for blindness, depression, being transgendered, and for anorexia. Why should anyone expect that it will be any different for children?
Not only that, but a child does not have the ability to make such a permanent decision. A human being’s brain is not formed enough to truly understand what they’re choosing at that age. Children are not capable of reasonable thinking the way (most) adults are. Elderly adults with dementia or Alzheimer’s also will be able to “choose” to be euthanized.
All that’s really happened is that Belgian lawmakers have decided to allow the most vulnerable people in society to be subjected to a system that kills people, and is already rife with abuse and corruption.
