[Magdalen] Should we support euthanasia for children

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

Another matter raised is the use of euthanasia when not requested.  This is
a very different matter altogether. It needs its own thread. Please, let's
not muddy the waters here. I'm starting another thread for this distinct
subject also.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Thu, Jul 2, 2015 at 11:21 AM, Zephonites--- via Magdalen <
magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:

> Folks
>
> I came across this report (DV) recently
>
> Laura is a 24-year-old in Belgium who plans to die  by euthanasia this
> summer.  She is not terminally  ill.  Rather, she explains that she has
> wanted
> to die ever since she was a  child.  "Life, that's not for me," she says.
> She has been approved  for death by lethal injection.  The chairman of
> Belgium's federal  euthanasia commission recently stated that 50 to 60
> psychiatric
> patients like  Laura are euthanized each year.
>
> Belgium legalized euthanasia in  2002.  Last year it became the first
> nation to legalize child  euthanasia.  According to The New England
> Journal of
> Medicine, Belgian  doctors also "hasten the death" of patients "without an
> explicit request."   More than 1,000 patients a year are euthanized in this
> way.  As Cambridge  professor Jack Keown explains, "If a doctor thinks
> death
> would benefit the  patient, why should the doctor deny the patient that
> benefit merely because the  patient is incapable of asking for it?"
>
> Should children be allowed to be put down - as I did my dog some years ago
> - by euthanasia?
>
> Blessings
> Martin
>