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File Yves Logghe/AP/Press Association Images

Euthanasia for terminally ill children legalised in Belgium

In total, there were 86 votes in favour and 44 against from the country’s lower House of Representatives.

TWELVE YEARS AFTER legalising euthanasia for adults, Belgium’s parliament extended the right to die to terminally ill children of any age Thursday, despite opposition from the Church and some pediatricians.

After months of heated debate, the lower House of Representatives adopted legislation making the largely Catholic country the second after the Netherlands to allow mercy-killing for children, and the first to lift all age restrictions.

Euthanasia

The ground-breaking legislation was adopted by 86 votes in favour, 44 against and with 12 abstentions. Belgium is one of three countries in Europe to allow euthanasia for adults.

“It is not a question of imposing euthanasia on anyone … but of allowing a child not to agonise in pain,” said Socialist MP Karine Lalieux ahead of the vote.

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”.

“The right to consider the question of life and death cannot be restricted to adults,” said liberal MP Daniel Bacquelaine.

Addressing controversy over the decision not to set an age restriction for “discernment”, he said a child’s “legal age isn’t the same as mental age.”

But opponents, largely members of centrist Christian-leaning parties, attacked the legislation for failing to set a minimum age for youngsters to be able to request euthanasia.

‘The world is watching us in amazement’

Saying “the world is watching us in amazement”, Christian Democrat Sonja Becq said a child’s “capacity of discernment” was a “vague” concept, “a grey area”.

“How will a doctor determine whether a child has a capacity of discernment?” she asked.

Socialist senator Philippe Mahoux, author of Belgium’s historic 2002 “right to die” legislation and himself a doctor, had called for the law to be widened to minors so as to provide a legal framework for medics who help children in pain die as a question of mercy, but outside the law.

Euthanasia is “the ultimate gesture of humanity” and “not a scandal”, he said. “The scandal is illness and the death of children from disease.”

The law offers the possibility of euthanasia to children “in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short-term”.

Counselling by doctors and a psychiatrist or psychologist is required, as is parental approval.

Before its adoption by a huge majority in the Senate in December, the upper house consulted dozens of medical specialists, lawyers and interest groups.

But during public debate, religious leaders of all faiths argued that extending euthanasia to the young risked “trivialising” death.

‘A step too far’

In recent days, the Catholic Church staged “a day of fasting and prayer” in protest and this week some 160 pediatricians petitioned lawmakers to postpone the vote on the grounds it was both ill-prepared and unnecessary.

Today’s vote went “a step too far”, Belgian bishops said in a joint statement.

They said they feared the legislation would “open the way to handicapped people, people with dementia, the mentally ill or those who are tired of living” to seek mercy-killing.

“Pain can be eased nowadays, there’s been huge progress in palliative care,” said cancer specialist and signatory Nadine Francotte.

In a stormy exchange in parliament on the eve of the vote, opponents argued that modern palliative medication could relieve pain in very sick youngsters, therefore allowing illness to run a natural course to death.

Thursday’s vote saw Socialists, Liberals and Greens members largely line up in favour, with centrist Christian-leaning parties opposed.

But party whips said it was up to individuals to decide how to vote on this life and death issue.

Ill minors are often more mature

Critics said the legislation failed to address problems and potential loopholes such as possible discord between the two parents over a child’s request to be euthanised.

And they asked how adults could be sure that a child had the “discernment” necessary to decide to give up life or even really understand the notion?

“Experience shows us that in cases of serious illness and imminent death, minors develop very quickly a great maturity, to the point where they are often better able to reflect and express themselves on life than healthy people,” a group of pediatricians in favour of the legislation said in December.

Polls showed a majority of Belgians backing the proposal but there was a surge of concern last year when a 44-year-old in distress after a failed sex change was euthanised on psychological grounds in a highly publicised case.

Belgium registered 1,432 cases of euthanasia in 2012, up 25 percent. They represented two percent of all deaths.

Neighbouring Netherlands has seen only five euthanasia requests from youngsters in the last decade.

Read: Belgium set to extend euthanasia law to cover children>

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    Mute CAPITAINE ADEBAYO
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:02 AM

    Thanks google. Thanks for starting a world where people walk around recording each other. I will never wear these.

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    Mute Jeremy Usbourne
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    Feb 11th 2014, 10:54 AM

    Should read.

    “Silly Virgin Atlantic press release, amounts to vast amounts of free advertising”

    46
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    Mute Heather Knowles
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:21 AM

    Minority Report meets Skynet

    42
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    Mute Tom Keating
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    Feb 11th 2014, 12:32 PM

    Time for infrared necklaces for everyone so you can protect your identity.

    26
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    Mute Barry Doyle
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:30 AM

    Welcome to the world of tomorrow

    24
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    Mute Dylan McDonald
    Favourite Dylan McDonald
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    Feb 11th 2014, 1:04 PM

    I’m a tech geek at heart and this technology is really cool BUT people have to be realistic and open there eyes, this is potentially one of the worst things to ever hit the self’s, privacy as we know it will be gone and our kids will never no what it is! Once its gone it will never come back, Scott Barry style

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    Mute bopter
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    Feb 12th 2014, 12:19 AM

    Fyi tech geeks tend to have good grammar and spelling.

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    Mute bandido
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    Feb 11th 2014, 2:19 PM

    The thing I’m dreading most about this technology is women walking down the street behind me checking out my sweet little ass.
    It gives them the capability to perv on me when I’m not even around!

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    Mute Butter bean
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:49 AM

    Yeah because you can’t walk around recording people on you phone this last ten years.
    Good one Adebayo.

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    Mute Heather Knowles
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    Feb 11th 2014, 3:36 PM

    Big difference in phone recording and these glasses. A few examples, your on a beach with your toddler and some stranger starts pointing a phone at your child filming them. If your a vigilant parent your going to notice this and one way or another put a stop to it and make other people aware of a potential pervert in your midst. Beach full of people lots wearing glasses any sicko can now do this unnoticed. Burgler scoping out your house standing with phone risk of being seen. Burgler walking slowly along with glasses on no problem. Taking cash out at an ATM using card in shop etc person with glasses good chance they can zoom in on your pin. Seriously dangerous piecof technology in the wrong hands and that’s aside from everyday invasions of privacy.

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    Mute CAPITAINE ADEBAYO
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    Feb 11th 2014, 3:44 PM

    Soz, only seeing this now as you didn’t hit reply. Walking around with a phone outstretched pointing in someones face since 2004 isnt something I have seen too much of, in day to day life, like transactions at a till etc but hey maybe I haven’t been paying attention.

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    Mute Pádraig Reardon
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    Feb 11th 2014, 5:20 PM

    PIN numbers are so last year love! We have fingerprint scanners here in Brazil now no need for a PIN number so don’t be worrying!

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    Mute Pádraig Reardon
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    Feb 11th 2014, 5:21 PM

    *On all ATM machines

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    Mute Mary Kavanagh
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    Feb 11th 2014, 12:44 PM

    I foresee (sorry!) terrible eye problems down the line if these become the norm.

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    Mute Julian King
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    Feb 11th 2014, 12:27 PM

    I remember these from ‘Beyond 2000′!

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    Mute Ben Gunn
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    Feb 11th 2014, 11:56 AM

    Welcome to the future. Bare in mind that the airlines have been the test bed for realtime transactions and date analysis since the 1960′s.

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    Mute seamus mcdermott
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    Feb 12th 2014, 10:26 AM

    I like Virgin Atlantic. I flew here via London from SFO. Treated like a human being. Wonderful staff. Comfortable seats (and I’m 6’4″, 210lbs). The other airlines should pay attention to VA. They know how to treat people.
    The glasses? Couldn’t care less. The terminal is plastered with cameras anyway.

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