According to Gudrun Kugler of the CitizenGo website, the Belgian Parliament passed a law that will permit doctors to euthanize children under the age of 18 who are terminally ill and suffering from severe pain without any prospect of relief. The decision to kill the child must be approved by the parents and the physicians, and the young patient must be aware of the situation and understand what euthanasia means.
"One can only imagine what this means to a young child who sees their parents in despair over his or her suffering," Kugler writes.
Many caregivers fear that young children, who are not capable of grappling with such a life or death decision, will choose what they feel their parents want, or ask to die because they feel badly for causing their parents so much sorrow.
Proponents argue that there are guidelines in place to handle these situations, but almost everyone involved in the practice of euthanasia worldwide say guidelines are routinely pushed aside and serve only to calm the public's fears of abuse in order to gain support for the practice.
Kugler says there are "frightening reports of lax or unregulated use of euthanasia not only in Holland, but to an increasing extent also in Belgium" and fears this law will serve as a signal to other European leaders that it's permissible to introduce similar laws in their own country.
Opposition is growing both inside and outside the country.
For instance, 175 pediatricians signed an open letter last week urging more time for reflection on the law before it is allowed to go into effect. The doctors claim the law "responds to no real demand" and that medical advances insure effective palliative care is available to prevent children from suffering as they approach death.
In addition to questioning whether or not a minor is capable of making such a decision and what kind of criteria will be used to determine this, they also believe extending the "right to die" to youngsters will only add to their stress and the pain families undergo at such difficult times.
Many members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe signed a declaration saying that this law “betrays some of the most vulnerable children in Belgium" and "promotes the unacceptable belief that a life can be unworthy of life which challenges the very basis of civilized society".
Belgium's Catholic leaders are also vehemently against the law.
“We are also opposed to suffering, whether physical or moral, and especially the suffering of children,” Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, president of Belgium’s bishops conference, said in a joint statement with Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders in November.
“But to suggest minors can decide on their own euthanasia is to falsify their power of judgment and their freedom. To suggest persons with dementia can also be euthanized is to deny their dignity and hand them over to the arbitrary judgment of decision-makers.”
As a result, a petition drive to convince Belgium's Catholic King Philippe not to sign the bill into law has already garnered more than 125,000 signatures - well over the 50,000 organizers hoped to acquire.
"After the Belgian Parliament adopted the law, it is now up to King Philippe of the Belgians to sign it. In theory, he can refuse his signature," Kugler writes. "This is, however, very uncommon and could stir up heated debates. But, this puts King Philippe in a position to make the strongest possible case for the dignity of every human person. His uncle, King Baudouin, had heroically not consented to a liberalization of abortion in 1990."
If the King refuses to sign the law, it would be the first time he used his royal powers to do so and, some say, would lead to a constitutional crisis in the country that could even threaten the future of the monarchy.
At the present time, Netherlands is the only country that allows children under the age of 18 to be euthanized. Those who are between the ages of 12 and fifteen must have their parent's permission before being euthanized, and those who are 16 or 17 must notify their parents beforehand.
Click here to sign the petition.
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