Two kids with terminal illnesses were the youngest ever people to be euthanized after Belgium authorities allowed them to decide whether to live or die.
The children, ages 9 and 11, were given lethal injections in the European country which permits children with terminal illnesses who are in “unbearable suffering” to choose to die.
The cases, which happened in 2016 and 2017, were revealed in a report by the CFCEE – the commission that regulates euthanasia in Belgium – and their ages were confirmed by a Belgian official.
It said that doctors in Belgium had given lethal injections to three children over the two-year period, including a 17-year-old who was suffering from muscular dystrophy.
The 9-year-old suffered from a brain tumor, while the 11-year-old had cystic fibrosis.
A member of the CFCEE told The Washington Post they were the first children under the age of 12 to be euthanized anywhere.
Belgium changed its euthanasia law in 2014, giving doctors the legal right to terminate the life of a child, no matter how young the patient was.
But the child must be judged to have the mental capacity to make the decision and must also have parental consent.
Source: NY Post
