Belgium's child euthanasia move lamented as 'unbelievable'
In the wake of Belgium's recent decision to legalize euthanasia for children, several members of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life voiced their dismay at the new practice.
John Haas, president of the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, Pa. and governing member of the academy, called the development “dreadful.”
“They are appealing to 'rights of children' to make these determinations, but children aren't capable of making those types of self-determinations,” Haas told CNA in Rome Feb. 21.
“So what is really going to happen is that, under the rules of children making these decisions for themselves, parents and physicians are going to be making those decisions, for children, to eliminate them because they've become excessive burdens on them and on the rest of society.”
“It’s a terrible situation. Unbelievable, if I may say so.”
The bill, which was passed by Belgium's parliament on Feb. 13 and has been sent to the country's King Phillipe, allows for terminally ill children to request euthanasia if they are “in great pain” and there is no available treatment. Parental consent, as well as the agreement of doctors and psychiatrists, is required.
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