On 13 February the Belgian Parliament passed a bill allowing euthanasia for terminally ill children without any age limit, by 86 votes to 44, with 12 abstentions. When, as expected, the bill is signed by the king, Belgium will become the first country in the world to remove any age limit on the practice.
This ground-breaking legislation makes the largely Catholic country the second after The Netherlands to allow mercy-killing for children, and the first to lift all age restrictions. Unlike the Dutch across the border, where euthanasia is allowed for children over 12, the law states that any incurably sick child may request to end their suffering if “conscious”, and if equipped with “a capacity of discernment”. It may be requested by terminally ill children who are in great pain and also have parental consent.
(from BBC UK News)
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