Let’s Not Legalize Kid Killing

The practice of euthanasia, already legal on a national level in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, is about to take a huge step further with the legal self-murder of minors in Belgium. The Belgian parliament legalized euthanasia in 2002 but is now poised to extend the practice to children. The killing would be permissible if the young patient is conscious of their decision and understands the meaning of the action.  In addition, the parents must approve and the illness must be terminal. The Belgian senate has already voted 50-17 in favor. Understandably, opponents argue that minors simply aren’t capable of such a grave decision. In the Netherlands, euthanasia for children is already legal over the age of 12, but the Belgians are not to be outdone. The new law, if passed, will allow the taking of one’s life at any age. One prominent Brussels pediatrician says, “We are talking about children that are really at the end of their life. Their life will end anyway. The question they ask us is: ‘Let me go while I still have my dignity.'”

If that last quote takes your breath away with its demonic logic, consider this. This doctor is expressing, according to the polls, the opinion of 75% of Belgians. It might also be noted that only 7% of Belgians attend church, and according to a 2011 poll 31% of the population is non-religious. The inhumanity of considering such a law may be simply a reflection of the lack of a spiritual scruples. Perhaps the seed of this insensitive attitude toward life was sown following the reformation when Protestants were burned at the stake. In fact it wasn’t until 1781 that anything other than Catholicism was tolerated on penalty of death. Religion in Belgium was for so long a tool of repression, not spiritual expression. The evil that attitude induced has likely brought a generational curse that disregards all faiths and has little sensitivity toward the dignity of all humans of any age.