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The Belgians are “surprised” that much – not enough, but still much – of the world is repulsed by the country legalising child euthanasia. From the Reuters story:
Bart Sturtewagen, chief editor of De Standaard, one of the country’s largest daily newspapers, said that after 12 years of legal euthanasia in the country, Belgians had grown used to it as an option for the final stages of their lives. “I’m annoyed at hearing ‘you’ll kill children’ in the foreign media. We don’t use that kind of language anymore. It’s a very different debate on a different level,” he said..In Belgium the age of criminal responsibility is 18 but when this law is signed by the King there will be no minimum age below which a child in Belgium is deemed too young to give consent to being killed. At present the age limit is 12.
The last country in Europe to legalise abortion is a pioneer in child euthanasia. This is not just about Belgium but is a trend spreading across Europe.
Europe is dying in so many senses.
Last country in Europe? Far from it...
ReplyDeleteThe age of legal responsability in Belgium depends on the act: for sexual consent it's 16, for criminal acts it's indeed 18. Belgium was one of the first countries to install a seperate juvenile justice system for minors.
The new law is restrictive in what it considers the conditions for euthanasia: consent of minor and parents, three independent physicians confirming intolerable and incurable suffering. It is also meant to clarify the grey area now often described as 'switching of the life support machines', which is often done without clear conditions.
Europe had nothing to do with this.
By Europe I meant the continent - Europe. Was Belgium not the last country to legalise abortion? If not which was?
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