Warning: readers may find the contents of this story distressing.
A child under 12 in the Netherlands has been euthanised for the first time since assisted suicide provisions were expanded nationally in 2024 in a move described as “an abject failure of the state in safeguarding the vulnerable.”
It is reported that details are not known about the boy’s condition, other than that he was seriously unwell. According to Evangelical Focus, the news that the first Dutch child younger than 12 had died in such fashion was confirmed in a letter to the Dutch House of Representatives from Health, Welfare and Sport Minister Sophie Hermans.
Saskia de Graaf-Bakker, Public Affairs Officer of Netherlands Mission, called for palliative care services in the nation to be improved to prevent people from feeling the need to make such choices.
Christian Institute Policy Researcher Jenny Olson, who helped defeat the assisted dying bill in Scotland, stressed to en that a child does not have the capacity to choose an assisted death, despite the heavy focus surrounding the issue of choice when it comes to such bills.
She said: “Keeping assisted suicide illegal is protective for those who don’t believe their life has value and are considering suicide. Whilst the proposals for England and Wales currently do not include children, if our country accepts the premise that it is acceptable to kill to prevent suffering, it opens the door for the UK to follow the same path as the Netherlands.
“This child’s death is an abject failure of the State in safeguarding the vulnerable. As Christians, we know that every child, and indeed every adult, is created in the image of God and that is where true dignity and worth come from. This worth does not evaporate when someone has a disease or disability.”
