Child euthanasia: Are Children Capable of Making Life And Death Decisions?

Euthanasia refers to the painless killing of a person suffering an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma. Before it is carried out, the patient concerned must state that he or she has permitted other people to assist him or her in dying. This consent or right to die is recognised by the legal systems of Belgium and Switzerland but only for adults who intend to terminate their own life. Now there is a debate whether the same process of euthanasia can be extended to children suffering terrible and incurable ailments.

Aside from the pain and anguish experienced by children with the incurable condition, the sufferings of family members of children with terminal illnesses can be enormous. The main carers of such sick children, for example, may dedicate their entire life to care for the sick children. This can involve sacrificing activities such as work or socialisation. There is also the tendency of the sick children parents to neglect or abandon their responsibilities to care for the healthy siblings of the sick children because the parents are busy looking after the sick.

It is true that children suffering incurable diseases may pose a big burden to their family members, there are good reasons these children should not be allowed to die or assisted in dying. The rapid advancement in medical treatments, for example, suggests that an incurable disease today can become a curable disease tomorrow. In addition, children continue to experience developmental changes in their life until the children are about 24 years of age. It is possible therefore that during this developmental stage that any children suffering incurable diseases can outgrow them and live a healthy life.

Besides, children do not have the capacity to make decision about euthanasia. They lack sufficient life experience to make well informed decisions. They have not engaged in activities such as secular work, marital relationship, bought or sold properties which can shape the children’s views about life.

This inability of children to make certain decisions in life is recognised by all the legal systems of the world. The legal systems of all the countries of the world, for example, provides for age restrictions on certain activities such as driving. It is illegal for children under this restricted age to drive a vehicle.

The western legal systems including those of UK and France also prohibit children under certain ages from buying alcohol, cigarettes, or getting married. In the United Kingdom, for example, children under 18 years of age cannot buy alcohol. The assumption for these restrictions is that these activities can be dangerous and costly. They can impact very negatively not only on the children involved in them but also on other people who may not be directly related to the activities.

However, supporters of child assisted suicide may argue that children suffering terrible and incurable illnesses are capable of making the decision about when they can die. They might argue that the children are those who directly experience the pain and best suited to decide whether to continue experiencing such anguish.

It is true that children who supposedly want to die by euthanasia are those suffering the pain and incurable disease but this does not mean that the children should be allowed to kill themselves to end the suffering. After all, life is not always a rosy one. It is full of both ups and downs, good and bad experiences.

While it may not be possible to cure children with terminal illnesses, the decision to kill such children should not be done for convenience. That is, sick children should not be killed because they are a source of inconvenience to the healthy family members. Instead, the decision to assist children suffering terminal illness to die should be based only on well established medical grounds.