The Netherlands announced Friday that it will implement new legislation to extend euthanasia to terminally ill children up to the age of 12 who are in »unbearable» pain.
»Termination of life is the only viable option to end the child’s desperate and unbearable suffering,» said Dutch Health Minister Ernst Kuipers, as reported by the news portal Het Parool.
The measure, which could come into force at the end of this year, has been taken by the Dutch cabinet and has been presented as an alternative, in cases of very serious illnesses, to the administration of sedatives in children under 12 years of age or even to the suspension of medication when palliative care is not sufficient.
The Netherlands was the first state to legalize euthanasia, in 2002, a law that permits the termination of life in adults and children over 12 years of age, although it has no legislation to alleviate the pain of terminally ill minors.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
