Euthanasia Laws and Terminally Ill Children
Thursday 20 February 2014 @ 11.35 a.m. | Legal Research
Belgium has become the first country to allow euthanasia for terminally ill children of any age, after its lower house of parliament passed new "right-to-die" legislation. The law passed with a large majority of 86-44, with 12 abstaining.
Under the extension to the existing euthanasia law, all age restrictions will now be removed on the right to die. It goes beyond Dutch legislation that set a minimum age of 12 for children judged mature enough to decide to end their lives.
Specifics of the Belgian Law
The new law will only apply to patients who are in great pain, with no treatment available, while any child’s request must be approved by their parents and medical team with the child involved necessarily understanding what euthanasia means. Children seeking to end their lives must be "capable of discernment", the law says, and psychologists must test them to confirm they understand what they are doing.
The new law specifies that children seeking euthanasia must be terminally ill rather than just in a state of unbearable suffering, which is the qualification for adults.
Apart from Belgium and the Netherlands, euthanasia is also legal in neighbouring Luxembourg, and France is considering legalising it later this year. Switzerland allows assisted suicide if the person concerned takes an active role. In the United States, assisted suicide is legal in Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington states.
Implications for Australian Laws
Opponents of reform in Australia might argue that the Belgian experience is evidence of the so-called “slippery slope” – that once assisted dying is legalised for competent adults, the criteria would inevitably expand over time to include other cohorts of people, such as children.
With the exception of a single act in the Northern Territory, parliaments in Australia have been persistent in their refusal to enact legislation that would legalise voluntary euthanasia and/or assisted suicide. Many attempts, as outlined in previous TimeBase articles, have been made but only one (in the Northern Territory, and for a limited time) has succeeded.
This suggests that should assisted dying become lawful in Australia, the focus of legislative activity would be on competent adults and, generally, only those with a terminal illness, not children, and the category has not been expanded to include those people who are interminably suffering for other reasons.
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