Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
- Joined
- Nov 3, 1999
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Paris: Two children, aged nine and 11, have become the world's youngest to be euthanised, according to a report.
The unnamed minors were administered lethal injections in Belgium, which has the world's only law allowing terminally ill children in "unbearable suffering" to choose to die. Their deaths, which occurred in 2016 or 2017, were revealed in a report from the CFCEE, the commission that regulates euthanasia in Belgium, and their ages were confirmed by an official.
It confirmed that Belgian doctors had given lethal injections to three children over the two-year period, including to a 17-year-old who was suffering from muscular dystrophy.
The nine-year-old, who had a brain tumour, and the 11-year-old, who was suffering from cystic fibrosis, were the first children under 12 to be euthanised anywhere, a member of the CFCEE told The Washington Post.
Belgium amended its euthanasia law in 2014 to make it legal for doctors to terminate the life of a child, however young, who makes the request.
They must be judged to have the mental capacity to make the decision and receive parental consent.
Luc Proot, a member of the CFCEE, defended the decision to authorise the young euthanasia cases, saying: "I saw mental and physical suffering so overwhelming that I thought we did a good thing."
For euthanasia to proceed in Belgium, doctors must first verify that a child is "in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short term". Once a child has expressed a wish for euthanasia in writing, child psychiatrists -conduct examinations, including intelligence tests, to determine their level of discernment and ensure they were "not influenced by a third party". Parents can, however, overrule their request.
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...st-ever-to-be-euthanised-20180808-p4zw4l.html
The unnamed minors were administered lethal injections in Belgium, which has the world's only law allowing terminally ill children in "unbearable suffering" to choose to die. Their deaths, which occurred in 2016 or 2017, were revealed in a report from the CFCEE, the commission that regulates euthanasia in Belgium, and their ages were confirmed by an official.
It confirmed that Belgian doctors had given lethal injections to three children over the two-year period, including to a 17-year-old who was suffering from muscular dystrophy.
The nine-year-old, who had a brain tumour, and the 11-year-old, who was suffering from cystic fibrosis, were the first children under 12 to be euthanised anywhere, a member of the CFCEE told The Washington Post.
Belgium amended its euthanasia law in 2014 to make it legal for doctors to terminate the life of a child, however young, who makes the request.
They must be judged to have the mental capacity to make the decision and receive parental consent.
Luc Proot, a member of the CFCEE, defended the decision to authorise the young euthanasia cases, saying: "I saw mental and physical suffering so overwhelming that I thought we did a good thing."
For euthanasia to proceed in Belgium, doctors must first verify that a child is "in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short term". Once a child has expressed a wish for euthanasia in writing, child psychiatrists -conduct examinations, including intelligence tests, to determine their level of discernment and ensure they were "not influenced by a third party". Parents can, however, overrule their request.
Source: https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...st-ever-to-be-euthanised-20180808-p4zw4l.html
