Youthanasia

[Kyriakos]

http://www.ibtimes.com/belgian-parliament-posed-approve-child-euthanasia-law-1301825#

The above article is about the vote in the Belgian Parliament on allowing Euthanasia to be practised on children. The vote seems to be most likely to pass.

While Euthanasia on adults (18+) has been legal in Belgium since 2002, this new law will allow for case-by-case examination of whether a child can be deemed as mature enough to decide for its own killing in the hospital.

In my view this is a very bad law. I am not sure how many cases of children (below 18) there are in Belgium which warrant Euthanasia anyway, so i am not really inclined to view this law as something that is purely beneficial. Surely the previous law still allows for the child to decide if it is going to be euthananized when it reaches 18 years of age. Granted that in some extreme cases this may mean a Golgotha for younger children, i am not sure if this particular law will just help those few, instead of - at the same time- making things even harder for controlling the practice of Euthanasia.

To be sure, i too agree that some cases should be examined, and be allowed euthanasia. However the article does not at all make clear what would constitute such a case. If anyone has this information, please post it

 

[Kyriakos]

I knew i should have titled the thread "Youthanasia" instead. No one got/liked the Joseph Conrad/Belgian Congo reference

Edit: Changed. Althgouh it seems the issue itself is not that able to warrant attention.

 

[classical_hero]

I don't how this is any different abortions laws already on the books.

 

[Leoreth]

It is different in that whatever equivalent of the trimester limit applies in Belgium is likely to have been exceeded.

 

[Kyriakos]

True, given that this is about children who not only were already born, but most likely are well in their pre-teen or even teen life.

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

Euthanasia is a good thing.

(unless you get in a car accident with all of your relatives and the only one left to decide for you to live or to die is your old witch mother-in-law, of course )

 

[Kyriakos]

I tried to find if this term was actually ancient or not. Like i suspected it is not ancient or medieval, but a bit later than medieval. It comes from eu (good, pleasant, positive etc) and thanatos (death), and originally meant a pleasant or good death. Since the late 19th century it has been used to refer to the medical ending of a patient's life, if the patient was in great pain.

But this soon to become law in Belgium is not about euthanasia for adults (+18), but for all children too. Which is what i find a bit scary, although like i said in the OP i can see how in some cases it is needed. There already exists a law in Belgium for euthanasia for adults.

 

[Lillefix]

Although I support active euthanasia, this seems to be unknown and dangerous territory. I remain open but skeptical.

 

[GhostWriter16]

Not for children, no. Bad law.

 

[EvenStranger]

What else does everyone expect?

Human life is no longer privileged or viewed as cosmically significant. Since our only remaining morality is essentially epicurean it's only natural that we start destroying people who aren't living pleasurably.

 

[JollyRoger]

Yep, a law that grants liberty is bad.

 

[EvenStranger]

Where did I say it was bad?

Secularized morality will increasingly shift towards a more permissive attitude towards suicide/euthanasia. Is this controversial?

Your life is yours, not God's, not your country's, not your family's. If it's yours then you shouldn't be required to maintain it once you stop enjoying it. Simple.

 

[Lillefix]

Your life is yours, not God's, not your country's, not your family's. If it's yours then you shouldn't be required to maintain it once you stop enjoying it. Simple.

Well sometimes you have to protect a person against themselves. And there are certain periods in life in which that is more necessary than others. So no it's not that simple imo.

 

[JollyRoger]

Where did I say it was bad?

My post was aimed at Ghostrighter - you just got caught in the crossfire.

 

[Jan H]

hmm, I know there has been some talk about extending the euthanasia laws (not inly to younger people, but also to people with dementia), but I haven't heard a big public debate about it. So I surfed the Belgian news sites a bit. It appears that out of the 6 parties that make up the goverment coalition, only 4 support the extension of the euthanasia law (the socialists and the liberal-democrats). One other party is not in favour, but would be willing to support a minimum age of 15 years, and the 6th party is absolutely against. So this thing is far from decided! One opposition party (the Flemish nationalist NVA) has offered to support the proposal, but it is VERY unlikely that the 4 government parties that are in favor will accept this (especially the socialists).

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

Since our only remaining morality is essentially epicurean it's only natural that we start destroying people who aren't living pleasurably.

So nicely stated, I'll borrow it for my political flaming.

 

[Synobun]

Not for children, no. Bad law.

Aren't you a libertarian?

 

[CocoIsKing28]

What I see as the problem here is when someone should have the right to make rational decisions, and one so significant as ending their own life. I suppose if one is in extreme pain and with no possibility of getting much better, I don't see who else besides themselves should decide if they live or not.

 

[kramerfan86]

I dont get how you can support adult euthanasia but not youth. What? Dying from a horrific disease is only unspeakable living torture once you are 18+?

 

[CocoIsKing28]

I dont get how you can support adult euthanasia but not youth. What? Dying from a horrific disease is only unspeakable living torture once you are 18+?

I guess. Before 18 it's just "deal with it, kid." Unless opponents say the child's parents should decide, which is ridiculous as well.