Three children are among thousands to die from euthanasia under Belgium’s radical laws

Jul 24, 2018 by Jill

by Steve Doughty, Mailonline:

Three children are among thousands of people to have died under Belgium’s radical euthanasia regime, figures reveal.

They were euthanised under the world’s only law that allows children of any age to choose to be put to death – a move opponents warn trivialises the value of life.

An official report has revealed the annual number of euthanasia cases across all age groups has multiplied almost fivefold in ten years. The practice was legalised in Belgium in 2003 – a year after the Netherlands. In 2007, 495 Belgians chose to die this way.

But latest figures reveal there were 2,028 such deaths in the country in 2016 and 2,309 in 2017 – a 14 per cent year-on-year rise. Two of the children died in 2016 and one in 2017. Their names and ages were not given, but all were understood to have had cancer.

While the Netherlands does not allow children under 12 to choose death, Belgium’s decision in 2014 to extend its euthanasia laws to all minors provoked outrage in the country and internationally.

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