Belgium opens debate on euthanasia for minors

Belgian legislators opened a debate yesterday on whether to amend a decade-old law on euthanasia to cover minors, after they were told that it was already taking place without set guidelines. Currently, the law applies to those over 18 but one expert told the upper house of parliament that it was clear that euthanasia was being carried out on younger people, the Belga news agency reported. “We all know it,” said Dominique Biarent, head of intensive care at Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital in Brussels. Faced with this reality, “doctors need a legal framework”, Biarent said. Professor Chris Van Geet of Leuven University said the proposed changes posed “an enormous ethical problem”. The changes to the law, which would also include people with Alzheimer’s disease, were submitted to parliament in December and it is likely to be several months before any decision is made. In 2002, Belgium became the second country in the world after the Netherlands to legalise euthanasia. A total of 1,133 instances – mostly for terminal cancer – were recorded in 2011, about 1% of all deaths in the country, according to official figures.

(AFP)