NETHERLANDS EXPANDS EUTHANASIA LAW TO CHILDREN UNDER 12
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NETHERLANDS EXPANDS EUTHANASIA LAW TO CHILDREN UNDER 12
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The Netherlands is set to pave the way for legalized euthanasia of very young children.
According to the NLTimes, the northwestern European nation, which already has some of the most liberal euthanasia policies in the world, is likely to expand its law to permit children ages 1-12 to be euthanized in certain circumstances. The practice is already legal for youth 12 and older and was already possible for infants in their first year of life.
The expansion requires the child being euthanized to be terminally ill.
“Once death is in the driver’s seat, it never hits the brakes,” commented scholar Wesley J. Smith of the Discovery Institute in a Tuesday National Review blog post, noting that he does not believe the “terminally ill” requirement will last and that the law is already murky enough given how pro-euthanasia doctors exploit the “gray area” in practice. . . .
Under what is known as the Groningen Protocol — a 2004 set of Dutch medical directives with criteria under which doctors are allowed to perform “active ending of life on infants” without fear of legal repercussions — babies in the Netherlands can be euthanized for serious disability and terminal illness.
Dutch Health Minister Hugo de Jonge told Parliament this week that child euthanasia should be allowed to help “a small group of terminally ill children who agonize with no hope, and unbearable suffering.” The proposal will affect between five and 10 children annually who suffer “as a result in some cases unnecessarily, for a long time, without any prospect of improvement.”
The proposal has divided politicians with Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD party and the centrist D66 party backing the expansion and De Jonge’s Christian Democratic Appeal party and the Christian Union opposing it. Parental groups and the Dutch Paediatric Association, the NVK, are also reportedly supporting the plan.
In 2002, the Netherlands became the first European country to legally authorize euthanasia, and statutes permitting when people can opt to end their lives have loosened over time. According to the European bioethics association AllianceVita, in the first decade of its legalization, the number of euthanasia cases doubled; in the first 15 years the rates had tripled. By 2016, an average of 16 people were being euthanized daily and accounted for 4% of all annual deaths in the Netherlands.
“The majority of these euthanasia cases (83%) were performed on patients suffering from incurable diseases, another 10% for multiple pathologies, 4% for disabilities related to old age, 2% for psychiatric disorders and 1% for dementia,” the group reported.
(Excerpt from The Christian Post. Article by Brandon Showalter. Photo Credit: Unsplash.)
Comment your prayers for this country and from further evil like this. . .
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Father, please renew in our entire civilization the truth that every person is Your image-bearer, created in Your image and thus, no one has a right to destroy it. Forgive us for refusing to acknowledge You as God and for attempting to supplant You with the false god of self. Lead us into righteousness and truth, O God!
Sovereign God, Maker of Heaven and earth, thank You for creating us in Your own image. Thank You that after seeing all that You had made, You declared it very good, (Gen 1:31). You created us to be Your likeness; as personal, rational, creative and moral beings. Thank You that You created men and women as equal image bearers of You. Father, bring morality to the Netherlands. We acknowledge that all power and authority belong to You, Father. You alone decide our beginning and our ending. We declare You Supreme, knowing each person’s final breath and dwelling place. Father, we ask that You forgive the Netherlands and any nation guilty of shedding innocent blood. Reveal Yourself to the Netherlands, Father. We know that all lives are precious to You and that all lives matter to You. Father, we come before Your throne of grace to obtain mercy in this time of need for these children. We intercede for the Netherlands, praying that the people humble themselves, pray, seek Your face, and turn from their wicked ways. We pray that You would hear from Heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their land, (2 Chr.7:14). Father, we intercede on behalf of the children. Your Word says, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these,” (Ma 19:14). Father, we ask for Your mercy over these innocent victims who are suffering and powerless. Give them an advocate with authority to represent their voice in this nation. Thank You for Christian Union who opposes this plan. May they represent these children tirelessly and stand in the gap for them. Father, we pray that You remove those from power who willfully exercise and mandate the evil of euthanasia. God, we acknowledge You as the ultimate Judge, so we ask that You remove those in authority who contradict Your will and Your Word. Shine a light on Your children for they are all precious in Your sight. Holy Spirit, we pray conviction on the hearts and minds of the governing politicians and doctors. “Rain down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together” (Isa. 45:8). Holy Spirit, saturate the hearts of their nation with righteousness. Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to Light. Father, draw them near to Jesus. May they receive the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ and confess Him as Lord and Savior. Jesus, bring revival to the Netherlands and worldwide. We pray for a Third Great Awakening in all the earth. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray, Amen.