Netherlands: Euthanasia to be extended to terminally-ill under-12s
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Terminally-ill children under the age of 12 will be able to avail of assisted dying in the Netherlands for the first time under a proposed widening of the country’s liberal euthanasia regime.
Since the early 2000s, Dutch law has provided for euthanasia for adults, children over the age of 12 and babies.
Government ministers last week agreed to extend and revise the protocol for babies to cover children aged 12 and under, DutchNews.nl reports.
Ernst Kuipers, the Dutch health minister, said: “This is a particularly complex issue that deals with very distressing situations.
“I am glad that, after intensive consultation with everyone involved, we have reached a solution that will help these incurably ill children, their parents and also their doctors.”
He added: “We are talking about children who are so ill that death is unavoidable and they are expected to die soon.”
The Dutch government estimates that between five and 10 ill children could be euthanised per year.
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