Citation

Brouwer M, Kaczor C, Battin MP, Maeckelberghe E, Lantos JD, Verhagen E. Pediatrics 2018; 141(2): e2017-1343.

Affiliation

Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2017-1343

PMID

29317518

Abstract

Voluntary active euthanasia for adults at their explicit request has been legal in Belgium and the Netherlands since 2002. In those countries, acceptance of the practice for adults has been followed by acceptance of the practice for children. Opponents of euthanasia see this as a dangerous slippery slope. Proponents argue that euthanasia is sometimes ethically appropriate for minors and that, with proper safeguards, it should be legally available in appropriate circumstances for patients at any age. In this Ethics Rounds, we asked philosophers from the United States and the Netherlands, and a Dutch pediatrician, to discuss the ethics of legalizing euthanasia for children.

Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Language: en