Belgian MPs have been accused of "ideological stubbornness" by pressing ahead with a child euthanasia law that has divided doctors and "challenges the very basis of civilised society" according to critics.
Belgium's parliament is almost certain to pass legislation on Wednesday that will allow “terminally ill minors facing unbearable physical suffering” to undergo euthanasia if they request it.
Euthanasia has been legal for adults in Belgium for 11 years and according to the last annual figures 1,432 people were medically killed in 2012, usually after electing for a lethal injection administered by a doctor.
The extension of euthanasia to children, which enjoys the support of three-quarters of Belgians in opinion polls, has aroused intense opposition from many doctors and has united Belgium’s Christians, Jews and Muslims against the law.
Earlier this week a letter signed by 160 Belgian paediatricians asked MPs to “reflect” and not to rush the law onto the statute books, warning that children lacked “mature discernment” to choose euthanasia. » | Bruno Waterfield, Brussels | Wednesday, February 12, 2014
