Netherlands allows euthanasia for children under 12 – True

Sometimes, a child is so severely ill that the parents and doctor together decide that there is no alternative but to terminate the child’s life. The doctor must always exercise due medical care.

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The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia in 2002, with the law also allowing children aged 12 and over to request it under strict conditions.

Hugo de Jonge, the health minister at the time, predicted that the rule — which went into effect in 2024 — would facilitate the deaths of about five children a year. Before the rule change, the country already allowed doctors to assist the ...

All cases must be reported to medical review boards. The law already provided possibilities for euthanasia involving terminally ill babies until their first birthday and for children over 12...

Ein Arzt zieht eine Spritze auf ... IMAGO/Jochen Tack/imago) ... Seit zwei Jahren ist Sterbehilfe in den Niederlanden auch für Kinder erlaubt – unter bestimmten strengen Auflagen....

Mit den Änderungen für Kinder ... gleich: Das Nachbarland verabschiedete 2014 als weltweit erstes Land ein Gesetz, das Sterbehilfe bei Kleinkindern erlaubt – allerdings nur mit Zustimmung des Kindes....

In this viewpoint, we describe ... first permitted in adults and children with a capacity of 12 years and older, then in infants and now is legal for children of 1–12 years....

A report from the Dutch Health Minister revealed that a minor child under 12 died by euthanasia in the Netherlands in late 2025.

The toddler, whose gender has not been disclosed, was the first child to be killed under an expanded euthanasia law in the Netherlands that extended the age limit of euthanasia to include children aged 1 to 12, if their parents agree.

However, a child must ask for the ... they understand what will happen. The parents must also consent to euthanasia of the child. The child's doctor must confirm that they are "in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short term." As of 2018, three children have died by euthanasia in Belgium. Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands for children between 12 and 16 years ...

Bei einwilligungsunfähigen ... wie für Erwachsene (schriftliche Erklärung zu einem Zeitpunkt, zu dem die Einwilligung noch möglich war). Sterbehilfe bei Minderjährigen unter 12 Jahren ist seit Februar 2024 auf Bitte der Eltern oder Erziehungsberechtigten erlaubt; das Kind ist entsprechend ...