In June 2026, Health Minister Sophie Hermans informed the public that a child under 12 years had died from euthanasia in 2025 due to severe illness, marking the first case of euthanasia of a child under 12 years of age.
However, according to new reports by the committee that reviews all late-term abortions and medically assisted deaths of children, the child was almost 24 months old.
The child was born prematurely at 26 weeks. The premature birth led to “extensive brain damage” and multiple infections, causing sepsis when the child was just 4 months old.
At 8 months old, the child was additionally diagnosed with a rather critical form of epilepsy known as infantile spasms syndrome (West syndrome) and cerebral palsy. The seizures caused the child to develop sleeping disorder, respiratory problems, coughing fits and a swallowing disorder.
After discussing the prognosis and discussing treatment options with the physician, the parents decided to terminate the child’s life. According to the report, the committee found that “the physician had acted with due care” given the circumstances.
Voluntary euthanasia or active euthanasia, when a medical professional ends a person’s life at their request, was legalized in the Netherlands in April 2002, making it the first country in the world to offer the option.
According to the Netherlands law, minors can request euthanasia from the age of 12 as long as they’re capable of assessing and understanding what’s best for them.
Children ages 12 to 15 require parental or guardian consent.
For minors who are 16 or 17, parents or guardians must be consulted in the decision-making process, but their consent is not required.
In 2024, the law was extended to allow children under the age of 12 to be euthanized if the child is “terminally ill and is suffering unbearably with no prospect of improvement.”
In these cases, the doctor and parents can decide together to end the child’s life. “This decision is always made in consultation with the parents and, if possible, also with the child,” the government website states.
Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to life, which has been judicially interpreted to encompass the right to die with dignity. This law allows a terminally ill person or a person in a permanent vegetative state to seek passive euthanasia to protect their right to a dignified death.
The law also allows such patients to record their wishes about life-sustaining treatment if they lose the capacity to decide in an advanced stage of their ailment.
Thus came the concept of a living will. A living will is a legal document that encompasses an individual’s preferences for medical treatment when they cannot voice their choices. The provision allows them to nominate a loved one to decide for them.
However, it is strictly to be noted that active euthanasia is illegal in India and identified as a crime.
Active euthanasia is when specific positive actions are taken to end a patient’s life, like administering lethal substances like an injection to deliberately take a patient's life. Passive euthanasia is when life-support mechanisms that are preserving the patient’s life are withdrawn, and as mentioned above, is legal in India.
Concerned over a likely misuse of living wills, the Supreme Court deliberately made its guidelines complex. However, in the process, the court ended up making it difficult to navigate for most people.
According to the guidelines, in order to make a ‘living will’ legally valid, an individual needs to sign it before two witnesses and get it countersigned by a magistrate.
If the person became terminally ill later in life, the then treating doctor would be required to form a medical board of specialists with at least 5 years of experience each. The findings of the medical board then had to go to a district magistrate, who would form a second medical board.
Once both boards agreed, then only the process could move forward, and any disagreement meant the matter went to the regional High Court.
Yes, earlier this year, India saw its first case of passive euthanasia.
Harish Rana, who had been in a coma since 2013 after suffering severe head injuries after falling from the 4th floor of a building, was granted passive euthanasia.
However, before his accident, Rana did not have a living will. After legalization of passive euthanasia in 2018, Harish’s parents approached the Supreme Court of India, filing a plea to allow giving passive euthanasia for Harish as he was kept alive "artificially" through life support machines.
After consulting the two medical boards, Harish Rana was finally granted his right to die with dignity.
Active euthanasia and assisted suicide are completely illegal for all individuals, including children, in India.
Passive euthanasia (withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment) is legally recognized for adults under strict Supreme Court guidelines, but no specific legal framework or explicit provision exists for minors or children.
(Rh/MF/MSM)
