Health.The Bioethics Committee denies that euthanasia is "a right"
The Dutch Government seeks to legalize euthanasia in children between one and twelve years of age in critical condition, according to a letter sent this Tuesday by the Minister of Health, the Christian Democrat
Hugo de Jonge
, thus supporting a proposal by pediatricians and the parliamentary majority in Netherlands.
The four parties of the Dutch coalition - liberals (VVD), Calling Democrats (CDA), progressives (D66) and Christian Union (NU) - have finally reached an agreement to
"provide more legal guarantees to doctors who, based on their professional standards, proceed to end the life of a child between the ages of one and twelve
,
"
wrote De Jonge.
This option will be available for a small group of terminally ill children, who have to deal with "desperate and unbearable" suffering, and for whom all the possibilities of palliative care are not enough to relieve their pain, that is, it will only include to children whose short-term death is foreseeable.
In the letter, addressed to the Dutch Parliament, the minister reported that the four parties, of different ideologies, negotiated to establish a legal scheme, together with the Public Prosecutor's Office and other professional groups, that would protect "health personnel, parents and rights of the kids".
Next Thursday, Parliament will debate the medical-ethical issues of this issue with the Government, because
the current regulations only include the request for a dignified death for children over twelve years old and babies under one year old
, which is approved with the consent of parents, but it does not include those in what is known as the "middle group" of children.
Last year, in an expert report, Dutch pediatricians spoke in favor of extending this possibility to the group of minors "in very exceptional cases", underlining that
there are children who "suffer" because doctors fear they will face legal consequences
if they take measures that can hasten the death of the child.
The proposal of these doctors was supported by a parliamentary majority, including liberals and progressives, although the Executive - made up in part by conservative parties - requested time to internally debate the issue, before giving the answer it gave this Tuesday.
For the report, 72 doctors from hospitals in Groningen, Rotterdam and Amsterdam were asked and the conclusion is that the majority thought that it was acceptable to actively end the lives of children under the age of twelve if they are in excruciating pain, and
always let it be at the request of their parents
.
Along with this issue, the Dutch Parliament will also discuss a controversial bill presented this summer by D66, which defends the "right" of those over 75 years of age who, even though they are healthy, choose to request euthanasia considering that they have lived enough.
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