The Netherlands has euthanized a child under the age of 12 years old, a government minister acknowledged in a report this week.
Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans revealed in a report presented to the national Parliament on Monday that the child was euthanized toward the end of last year due to severe illness. She said in the document that the case was referred to a review committee previously established when euthanasia of children under 12 was legalized two years ago.
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Additionally, as with all euthanasia cases in the Netherlands, the details of the process have been given to the public prosecution service. Those officials will examine the case and check that the doctor followed the legal process for euthanizing the child.
The committee has spoken to the doctor responsible for recommending the child’s supervised death and will share their findings with legal officials. The report is expected to be made public shortly.
Assisted suicide has become a sensitive topic in the Netherlands, where use of the program is growing among those not typically considered candidates for suicide.
Last year, the Netherlands euthanized just under 10,000 people. It marked a staggering 60% increase in assisted suicide cases compared with the previous year and almost 6% of all deaths nationally.
Ending the life of a pre-teen in the Netherlands requires the child to be incurably ill, suffering severely, and expected to die in the foreseeable future. Parents must sign off on the euthanasia process.
Prior to 2024, euthanasia was legal only for newborns and children aged 13 and above. Children between 1 and 12 were able to be euthanized by ending access to food and water while sedated.
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Euthanasia, also referred to as assisted suicide, has become one of the most politically charged cultural battles in Europe and North America. Assisted dying programs have been rolled out in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, and elsewhere.
Noelia Castillo, a 25-year-old woman who survived multiple sexual assaults and a suicide attempt that left her paralyzed, was approved for voluntary euthanasia and killed last week near Barcelona.
A U.S. government cable to Spain that leaked afterward expressed “serious concerns about the application of Spain’s euthanasia law, particularly in cases involving psychiatric conditions and non-terminal suffering.” Spain passed a right-to-die law in 2021.
