Belgium to Legalize Euthanasia for Children

[Atreyu69 (imported)]

Belgium is set to legalize euthanasia for children

Here's the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... eases.html

This makes me very nervous. There was an adult transsexual who had himself euthanized due to a botched sex reassignment surgery. I'd hate for that to ever happen to a kid.

Belgium is expected to legalise child euthanasia tomorrow, when a controversial vote to abolish age restrictions on who can ask to be killed appears before the country's House of Representatives.

Under the legislation, teenagers in the advanced stages of terminal illness that are suffering unbearable pain will be able to request to have their life brought to an end by a doctor.

Although Belgium is one of only a few countries that allows euthanasia, it won't be the first to extend that right to children as the Netherlands already accepts death requests from those as young as 12.

The child euthanasia legislation appears to have wide support in Belgium, though it has also led to street protests backed by a number of paediatricians who fear sick and vulnerable children may be pressured into ending their lives by parents or guardians who consider them a burden.

Supporters such as Dr Gerland van Berlaer, a prominent Brussels pediatrician, believe child euthanisa is nothing but merciful, however.

The law will be specific enough that it will only apply to the handful of teenage boys and girls who are in advanced stages of cancer or other terminal illnesses and suffering unbearable pain, he said.

Under the current law they must wait to die naturally or until they turn 18.

'We are talking about children that are really at the end of their life. It's not that they have months or years to go. Their life will end anyway,' said Dr Van Berlaer, chief of clinic at the pediatric critical care unit of University Hospital Brussels.

'The question they ask us is: 'Don't make me go in a terrible, horrifying way. Let me go now while I am still a human being and while I still have my dignity''

On December 12, the Belgian Senate voted by 50 to 17 in favour of amending the country's 2002 law on euthanasia to allow it to apply to minors, although only under certain additional conditions.

Those include parental consent and a requirement that any minor desiring euthanasia demonstrate a 'capacity for discernment' to a psychiatrist and psychologist.

The House of Representatives, the other chamber of Belgium's parliament, is scheduled to debate whether to agree to the changes today and vote on them tomorrow. A positive vote is widely expected.

King Philippe, Belgium's constitutional head of state, would then have to sign the legislation for it to go into effect.

Although one opinion poll found 75 per cent of Belgians were in favor of the changes, there has been a vocal opposition.

Andre Leonard, the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels and chairman of the Episcopal Conference of Belgium said: 'We are opening a door that nobody will be able to close... There is a risk of very serious consequences in the long term for society and the meaning we give to life, death and the freedom of human beings.'

Etienne Dujardin, 29, a notary employee and father, has been among those staging protests as the debate in the House of Representatives nears.

He doesn't believe safeguards proposed under the new law are watertight enough to protect youngsters who may be incapacitated by disease.

'If you take three psychiatrists, one of them will end up approving [euthanasia]... In the name of promoting freedom for children, we're letting someone else decide,' Dujardin said.

This week, an open letter carrying the names of 160 Belgian pediatricians was issued to argue against the new law, claiming there is no urgent need for it and that modern medicine is capable of soothing the pain of even the most sick children.

The doctors also said there was no objective way of providing that children possess the 'discernment' to know what euthanasia means.

Dr Van Berlaer, 45, was not one of the signatories. 'Very sick children who are surrounded by other ill and dying people are not like other youngsters, and mature quickly - too quickly', he said.

'They may look on as friends or neighbors in their ward die because they can no longer breathe or swallow, and come to realise what lies ahead for them.'

In such cases, Dr Van Berlaer said, a child may want to say goodbye to classmates and family and ask if he or she can stop living.

'The thing is that it is an ultimate act of humanity and even love for the patients, minors in this case, that we at least listen to this question and think about why they would ask such a difficult thing,' Van Berlaer said.

'And it will never be easy, even if the law changes now, things won't be easier.'

Dr Van Berlaer estimates only a handful of Belgian children, all in their teenage years, would be able to make use of the new euthanasia restrictions each year.

'If there is still a possible medical treatment, they will not be allowed to ask for euthanasia,' he said.

The discernment clause, he added, should bar the law from applying to young children.

Dr Marc Van Hoey, a general practitioner who is president of the Right to Die Association in the region of Flanders, is also in favor of the legislation.

Euthanasia, he said, sometimes becomes the kindest and most caring option.

'If you see somebody who died in pain, you see his face completely with a kind of expression where you see the pain on the face... I never saw that when I gave someone euthanasia,' the doctor said.

Besides Belgium, the only other countries to have legalised euthanasia are its neighbours the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland and in the US states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont and Montana.

In the Netherlands, children between 12 and 15 may be euthanized with parents' permission, while those who are 16 or 17 must notify their parents beforehand.

Luxembourg limits the practice to legal adults 18 and older.

[tugon (imported)]

Belgium is set to legalize euthanasia for children

Here's the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-diseases.html

This makes me very nervous. There was an adult transsexual who had himself euthanized due to a botched sex reassignment surgery. I'd hate for that to ever happen to a kid.

The link does not seem to work but I am sure many of us would be interested in reading the article. Thanks for brining it to our attention.

[Atreyu69 (imported)]

The link does not seem to work but I am sure many of us would be interested in reading the article. Thanks for brining it to our attention.

I was having trouble with the hyperlink function. But if you do a search on "Belgium euthanasia for children" you'll find quite a bit on the story. Also "transsexual euthanized" will being you to lots of articles.

[Paolo]

If you read the article, it clearly states that this is for cases of terminally ill children in misery.

It's not like any child can just walk in and say "I want to die, please."

[Atreyu69 (imported)]

Here's the article about the transsexual. I'm sorry I can't seem to make the hyperlink work.

http://www.nationalreview.com/human-exc ... ey-j-smith#!

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Belgian Transsexual Euthanized!

By Wesley J. Smith

October 1, 2013 2:46 PM

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I can’t stand it. Nathan Verhelst underwent a botched sex change surgery, and then was euthanized to put him out of his despair. From the Daily Mail story:

A Belgian transsexual has chosen to die by euthanasia after a botched sex change operation to complete his transformation into a man left him a ‘monster’. Nathan Verhelst, 44, died yesterday afternoon after being allowed have his life ended on the grounds of ‘unbearable psychological suffering’…

In the hours before his death he told Belgium’s Het Laatse Nieuws: ‘I was ready to celebrate my new birth. But when I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with myself. ‘My new breasts did not match my expectations and my new penis had symptoms of rejection. I do not want to be… a monster.’…

It is understood to be the first time someone in Belgium has chosen euthanasia after a sex-change, and comes soon after it emerged that it is now the cause of nearly one in 50 deaths in the country. Mr Verhelst died after a lethal injection administered by the same doctor who last year ended the lives of congenitally deaf twins who were also going blind.

For those who may not recall, here’s the story on the twins. There have also been cases of joint euthanasia deaths of elderly couples in Belgium. Then there was the case of the woman euthanized because she was sexually assaulted by her psychiatrist! Moreover, Belgian doctors now euthanize disabled and mentally ill people and harvest their organs.

Words rarely fail me. But they do here. How low to things have to go before people finally see?

[~Tiamat~ (imported)]

I see you're not from the UK, Atreyu... It's generally best to take everything you read from the Daily Mail with an entire grit truck full of salt, especially stories of the "moral outrage" variety. Another source might have a fuller story x