Netherlands doctors ended life of a terminally ill child

The Dutch committee that oversees late-term abortions and the ending of life in newborns and children under 12 has published a report on a case in which a doctor, at the parents' request, ended the life of a terminally ill child shortly before he was due to turn two years old. The committee concluded that the doctor had acted “with due care.”

A difficult birth and complications

The child was born “extremely premature,” at 26 weeks and three days of pregnancy, while the family was abroad. He was placed in a neonatal intensive care unit and went on to develop serious complications, including multiple infections that led to sepsis.

After the family returned to the Netherlands, when the child was already four months old, an MRI scan showed extensive brain damage. As a result, he developed severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy, his breathing problems worsened, he lost his sight, could not sleep, and was unable to communicate with those around him.

“Suffering unbearably and hopelessly”

“Despite all medical and non-medical interventions, neither the parents nor the doctor observed any improvement in the child's condition, and they were convinced that he was suffering unbearably and hopelessly,” the committee's report states. After independent experts confirmed the poor prognosis, the parents asked the doctors to end the child's life — this happened shortly before he would have turned two.

A doctor may only end the life of a child under 12 when there is no way to relieve their suffering and death is expected soon. Under Dutch law, such active ending of a child's life under 12 is not classified as euthanasia: the euthanasia law requires the request to come from the patient themselves, and children under 12 are legally considered incapable of making their own decisions about medical care.

What changed in 2024

Before 2024, in such cases doctors in the Netherlands could only offer palliative care or stop feeding and fluids for the child, allowing them to “pass away” in this way — a process that could take many days or even longer.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz