“A 17-year-old has committed doctor-assisted suicide in Belgium, the first minor to do so under rules adopted in 2014 allowing euthanasia for people of all ages, the head of the national committee for euthanasia said on Saturday.
Wim Distelmans, who chairs Belgium’s Federal Control and Evaluation Committee on Euthanasia, told Reuters that the minor was 17 and that a local doctor had reported the case to his committee last week, but he gave no other details.
Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002, and two years ago amended the rules to permit doctor-assisted death for minors in a hopeless medical situation and with their explicit consent.
It is the only country in the world that allows euthanasia for minors of all ages. In the neighboring Netherlands the practice is legal for children aged 12 or over… Euthanasia laws vary by country. Laws in Belgium, the Netherlands, Colombia and Luxemburg [sic] allow mercy deaths for adults, which usually means a doctor administering lethal doses of barbiturates.”