Dutch officials in June disclosed the first case of a young child’s life being ended under 2024 rules that allow euthanasia for children ages 1 to 12; a September government report reveals the child in question was just 1 year old. A review committee said the child had been born at 26 weeks and suffered extensive and permanent brain damage, severe cerebral palsy, epilepsy, sputum clearance problems, and profound developmental delays. CBS News reports the child was nearly 2 but was estimated to have the developmental age of a 6-week-old. Euronews reports the child’s parents requested euthanasia after it became apparent there was no possibility of improvement.
In these cases, doctors must conclude that “termination of life is the only reasonable way to end the child’s unbearable suffering without prospect of improvement,” but not all consulted physicians initially agreed this was the case. They found “the child was not continuously suffering unbearably” and that “there were still reasonable alternatives, such as palliative options and other medications that could possibly result in better control of the epileptic seizures.” Further treatment was tried but halted after it produced serious side effects. A later independent doctor concluded the legal criteria had been met. The doctor who ended the child’s life described it on Dutch TV as “a kind of emancipation of the child.”