Schoolchild under age of 12 euthanised in Netherlands for first time

The Netherlands has euthanised a child below the age of 12, for the first time since new legislation came into force.

Health minister Sophie Hermans disclosed the case to the Dutch parliament, confirming the procedure took place near the end of last year.

The unnamed child was terminally ill, according to the minister's letter of correspondence.

A specialist committee tasked with overseeing the 2024 law has reviewed the circumstances surrounding the case and interviewed the physician responsible for administering the lethal injection.

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Prosecutors will now determine whether the medical professional complied with legal requirements, with the committee's full report due in the coming days.

Dutch legislation permitting euthanasia for incurably ill children between one and 12 years old has been in place for two years.

Prior to this reform, the practice was restricted to infants and those aged 12 and above.

The law stipulates strict criteria - parents must give their consent, the young patient must be experiencing intolerable suffering, and medical professionals must determine there is no prospect of recovery.

Children covered by these provisions are strictly those facing death in the immediate future, whose "pain and distress cannot be managed through other means".

When the legislation was introduced, authorities anticipated between five and ten cases annually where it would be deployed.

The Netherlands pioneered legal euthanasia in 2002, becoming the first nation to permit the practice for individuals with incurable conditions causing unbearable physical or psychological suffering.

Before the recent legislative change, no clear policy existed for children aged one to 12, as they were deemed incapable of making decisions independently.

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Medical practitioners had long called for defined guidelines covering this age group.

Belgium followed its neighbour's lead and in 2014, became the first country globally to extend euthanasia to children of any age.

Euthanasia differs from assisted dying, with the former involving a doctor administering a lethal injection, while the latter provides patients with medication to end their own lives.

Fresh efforts to introduce assisted dying in England and Wales have been trudging through parliamentary scrutiny for many months.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill secured approval in the House of Commons last year, but failed to clear the Lords - where concerns emerged that vulnerable individuals might face pressure to request death.

A huge volume of proposed amendments from peers meant the legislation ran out of parliamentary time.

Labour MP Lauren Edwards, representing Rochester and Strood, has announced plans to reintroduce a bill identical to Kim Leadbeater's original proposal.

Opponents of legalisation cite increasing euthanasia figures in the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada as evidence of a "slippery slope" that could erode safeguards over time.

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