Belgium reports first case of euthanasia for a minor

BRUSSELS, Sept 17 (Reuters) - A minor has been euthanised in Belgium in what is the first application of rules adopted by the country in 2014 allowing doctor-assisted death for children of all ages, the head of the national committee for euthanasia said on Saturday. Jacqueline Herremans, head of the Belgian Association for the Right to Die with Dignity and a member of Belgium’s federal euthanasia commission, confirmed to RTBF television that such a statement had been made. Wim Distelmans, who chairs Belgium's Federal Control and Evaluation Committee on Euthanasia, told Reuters that the minor was 17 and that a local doctor had reported the case to his committee last week, but he gave no other details. The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg permit euthanasia and assisted suicide

Switzerland permits assisted suicide if the person assisting acts unselfishly

Colombia permits euthanasia

California last year joined the US states of Oregon, Washington, Vermont and Montana in permitting assisted dying

Canada passed laws allowing doctor-assisted dying in June of this year

How old must the patient be? It is the only country that allows children of any age to undergo euthanasia, as long as they are able to make rational decisions and are in the last stages of an incurable disease

A terminally ill child has become the first minor to be euthanised in Belgium since age restrictions on such mercy killings in the country were lifted in 2014, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The Belgian amendment, which was passed after heated debate — notably over the meaning of a required “capacity of discernment” — 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“. Any request for euthanasia must be made by the minor, be studied by a team of doctors and an independent psychiatrist or psychologist, and have parental consent. Competent patients aged between 12 and 16 may also qualify, but only if their parent or guardian consents.
A local doctor in Belgium grants euthanasia to a terminally-ill minor, marking the first case of such procedure performed since the 2014 removal of age restrictions.