The Dutch government announced this Friday 14th April that children under the age of 12 suffering from intolerable and incurable suffering will be able to benefit from medical help. The decision comes after years of debate, and has even encountered opposition in Prime Minister Mark Rutte's own ruling coalition.
The executive has specified that this affects a "small group", of five to ten children under twelve years a year, "for whom palliative care options are not enough to alleviate their suffering" Belgium had become in February 2014 the first country in the world to authorize minors, "with the capacity for discernment" to choose euthanasia without age limit.