A friend urged me to look at this in a broader context and the "motivation" behind the proposed legislation and, believe me, I have looked at the reasons why through several articles on this topic and it still horrifies me. (below is a link to just one of them)
The legislation is to come about as a result of the sheer numbers of children who might face a life of a compromised quality through all manner of serious afflictions.
Now, if you ask me, this is a classic case of addressing the symptoms of a problem rather than the causation. It may just be that given the global increase in population, we see a preponderance of afflictions affecting our children or it might be that we have found a way to conveniently eradicate the "problem" by handing it over to the kids themselves.
Is it a case of (in the words of Frank Zappa), advocating decapitation as a cure for dandruff?
I do not downplay the seriousness of what may be afflicting kids at all but surely we, as a society, should be addressing the reasons why we are producing a seeming plethora of sick kids while adopting a paucity of assistance? Is there a form of genetic aberration that is sweeping Belgium and The Netherlands? Are people there genetically inadequate? That in and of itself seems questionable wouldn't you think? Are there other factors in play?
What are these factors? We should be examining that a hell of a lot more vigorously to find out why so many sick kids are being born?
And if our laws do not find it appropriate for minors to be adequately mature to drink alcohol, drive cars, get married and vote, how does the responsibility of deciding their own life or death fate suddenly become less onerous? The ultimate decision that one faces now suddenly handed over to minors when society through all of its other mores, laws and dictates deems those same people unfit to make such a decision.
It smacks of moral and ethical abdication of our assumed responsibility as caregivers and/or parents to me.
Yes, in certain opinions, there may seem to be too many people on Earth but if we, as the self-proclaimed custodians of the planet, managed our resources and economics correctly there is no shortage of space or essential commodities. Instead, we mismanage the systems that are designed to make the planet work and billions go to bed hungry every night while more face chronic poverty and disease - all unnecessary in a world where our abundance was equitably managed. But it isn't. And we should not forget that it was generally so-called adult decisions which created the present number of people in the first place and now we elect, when certain of these offspring become problematic for us and perhaps themselves, to go the way of the wild animal and allow the runts of the litter to simply perish because genetically they aren't quite up to scratch. This is base eugenics at every level.
And while I am the strongest possible advocate that animals are sentient and that we can learn much from them, I believe that our innate humanity trumps our base instinctual nature and isn't it that which should be governing us in our approach to such challenges?
Is it more humane for afflicted people to simply die? Perhaps it is - that in itself is an unwinnable debate given the impossibility of extracting emotion from the engagement. But should such a decision be given to the afflicted child when we, as the people responsible for bringing that child into existence and where our collective behaviour has arguably manifested these "problems" in the first place, simply absolve ourselves of the responsibility or the wellbeing or fate of that child?
Deciding to impose death as a solution (smacks of the policies of one Adolf Hitler) whether self imposed or by decree of others should be the most difficult decision any society should face and here we are making it as easy as possible.
It's not that death should necessarily be feared but should it be the simple, mechanical process that is being advocated here and given over to people not yet old enough to vote?
I'm not that sure that it should.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100222557/belgium-and-the-netherlands-consider-permitting-euthanasia-for-children-including-to-relieve-suffering-for-the-parents/h
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