Sadness and concern for the future were expressed by the Belgian Bishops immediately after the Legislative Chamber approved, in recent days, the extension of the legalization of euthanasia to children with no indication of an age limit. The harsh reaction and comment of the Spanish Forum of Families.
After expressing their fear several times in recent months, the Bishops of Belgium have issued a statement in which they say that they are “extremely disappointed” and “deplore the adoption of a law that many experts consider to be useless.” “The Bishops—so the statement reads—share the views of all those who, in the course of the debate on euthanasia, have spoken out unambiguously against this law in the light of their experience and their expertise. They fully support children’s rights, among which the right to love and respect is the most basic. However, the right of a child to ask for his own death is a step too far. This implies transgressing the prohibition to kill, which constitutes the basis of our human society. The Bishops are concerned that this new law will open the big door to yet another extension to people with disabilities, to people with deteriorated mental faculties, to the mentally ill and to those who are tired of living.”
This grave news is echoed by the note from the Spanish Forum for the Family: “The approval of a new law in Belgium that allows euthanasia for minors is a further demonstration that when exceptions are allowed in the protection of life one finds oneself on a slippery floor without limits.” What is happening in Belgium, the note continues, “is a factual argument requesting zero tolerance towards euthanasia. When it is admitted that a doctor can kill in a particular case, the door is already being opened towards the admission, with time, of euthanasia in any case.” In Spain, “the supporters of euthanasia continue to present periodically, in certain media, stories of pain, twisted to serve the cause of the legalization of euthanasia. This expectation intends to prepare the ground for legislation that will open the door to the practice of euthanasia foreseen in a bill that was not approved in the last legislature because of the early termination of the Spanish Parliament.” After the disaster in Belgium and Holland, “we demand that Spain never admit any law legitimizing euthanasia, in any case or hypothesis,” concludes the Forum.
