Child euthanasia is a form of euthanasia that is applied to children who are gravely ill or have significant birth defects. In 2005, the Netherlands became the first country since the end of the Third Reich to decriminalize euthanasia for infants with hopeless prognosis and intractable pain. Nine years later, Belgium amended its 2002 Euthanasia Act to extend the rights of euthanasia to minors. Like euthanasia, there is world-wide public controversy and ethical debate over the moral, philosophical and religious issues of child euthanasia.
Modern history
Nazi Germany
A 24 July 1939 killing of a severely disabled infant in Nazi Germany was described in a BBC "Genocide Under the Nazis Timeline" as the first "state-sponsored euthanasia". Parties that consented to the killing included Hitler's office, the parents, and the Reich Committee for the Scientific Registration of Serious and Congenitally Based Illnesses. The Telegraph noted that the killing of the disabled infant—whose name was Gerhard Kretschmar, born blind, with missing limbs, subject to convulsions, and reportedly "an idiot"— provided "the rationale for a secret Nazi decree that led to 'mercy killings' of almost 300,000 mentally and physically handicapped people". While Kretchmar's killing received parental consent, most of the 5,000 to 8,000 children killed afterwards were forcibly taken from their parents.
Groningen Protocol
Bente Hindriks, born in 2001 at Groningen University Medical Center in the Netherlands, was immediately diagnosed at birth with the rare genetic disorder, Hallopeau-Siemens syndrome. The disease features chronic blistering and peeling of the epidermis and mucous membranes. There is no effective treatment, while the damage on the top layer of the skin comes with severe, unmitigated pain. Bente's diagnosis was impossible to treat and her prognosis of skin cancer would take her life in five to six years. Her pediatrician, Dr. Eduard Verhagen, could do nothing to help. Though illegal at the time, Bente's parents wished to end her suffering with active euthanasia. Ultimately, it is believed that the high dose of morphine that Dr. Verhagen administered to ease her pain killed Bente.
Four years after Bente Hindriks' death, Dr. Verhagen began campaigning for policy change that called for permitting infant euthanasia under specifically strict guidelines. While engaged in this pursuit, Dr. Verhagen publicly stated that he terminated the lives of four more infants, all with severe cases of spina bifida. Called "Dr. Death" and "a second Hitler" by some, he continued along with his hope for a "nationwide protocol that allows each pediatrician this delicate question with due care, knowing he followed the criteria," to end his patients' lives simply out of compassion. He felt that strict regulations on infant euthanasia would prevent uncontrolled and unjustified instances of euthanasia. In 2005, Dr. Verhagen and Dr. Sauer, with a team of prosecutors, formalized the Groningen Protocol.
The agreement follows that no charges shall be pressed against physicians who perform end-of-life procedures on infants who meet the following five criteria: The infant's diagnosis and prognosis must be certain. The infant must be experiencing hopeless and unbearable suffering. At least one independent physician must confirm that the first two conditions are met. Both parents must give their consent. The termination procedure must be performed in accord with the accepted medical standard.
Furthermore, neonates and infants who might be considered candidates for end-of-life decisions are divided into three categories: Infants with no chance of survival who are likely to die soon after birth, even if they receive the best medical and surgical care available. Infants who are sustained by intensive care but have a bleak prognosis. Infants who have a hopeless prognosis and experience unbearable suffering.