Children’s euthanasia bill signed by Belgium king

[KamaAina]

http://rt.com/news/belgium-king-sign-euthanasia-bill-566/

(Yeah, yeah, it's RT, but it's not about Russia, so it's probably not propaganda. )

Belgium’s king has signed into law a controversial bill that will allow for chronically ill children to be euthanized, local media reports. The bill, while widely opposed by religious groups, has broadly support among the public.

Belgian newspapers reported that King Philippe signed the bill into law Sunday, putting to rest weeks of speculation on whether he would approve the law amid strong opposition from Catholic organizations throughout Europe.

The legislation, which grants children the right to request euthanasia if they are “in great pain” and there is no available treatment, makes Belgium the first country in the world where the age of the child is not taken into consideration. Similar legislation exists in the Netherlands, though only for children over the age of 12. In both countries, children are required to receive the consent of parents, doctors and psychiatrists.

The Belgian Catholic Church opposes the law, earlier describing it as a “step too far.” European Catholics also petitioned the king to veto the bill.

Likely many of these children will be ones with disabilities.

And how on Earth can a minor "request euthanasia"? Wouldn't a parent have to do that for him/her? And given the recent rash of murders of kids with disabilities by their parents, that could prove problematic.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I think your excerpted text answers your questions.

To excerpt from the excerpt...

The legislation, which grants children the right to request euthanasia if they are “in great pain” and there is no available treatment,
...
In both countries, children are required to receive the consent of parents, doctors and psychiatrists.

So it looks like it does actually have to be the kid doing the request, not the parents or guardian on his or her behalf, and the parents, docs, and psych types all have to agree with the kid.

[enlightenment]

2. Generally, if you search on a string

- in this case I used "Belgium euthanasia children" - you can find alternative sources.

The BBC reports on this and, as the other poster noted, this is not a free-for-all "kill the disabled" bill.

It applies to terminally ill children, with parental consent. Most likely it will not affect many - and most will be older.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26181615