The Dutch government has determined that the physician who euthanized a two-year-old child in December of 2025 acted with “due care,” marking this child’s death as the first non-infant child under the age of 12 to be killed by euthanasia in the Netherlands.According to Hannah Davis, writing for Decision Magazine, the Committee that reviewed the case determined that the child’s condition was irreparable. Born prematurely and with brain damage, the child was unable to communicate, suffered from cerebral palsy, visual impairment, and was diagnosed with epileptic spasm syndrome. Sadly, the child did not respond to epilepsy medication.
“Due to the epilepsy, the child was restless and often unable to sleep,” Davis wrote. “Additionally, mucus gathered in the lungs, making breathing and swallowing difficult. Though the child was nearly 2 years old, its developmental age was at about six weeks.”
Two independent doctors examined the child and determined that the condition was irreversible. However, they initially ruled that the child was not in continuous pain or suffering unbearably, and recommended alternative treatments that could potentially improve seizures. Another doctor concluded otherwise, saying that the child’s suffering was unbearable and could not reasonably be relieved in any other way except death.
The parents requested euthanasia and began the legal procedures necessary to bring about this conclusion. They sought the necessary second opinion only to be told that their child wasn’t eligible to be euthanized because there were other options available. These included palliative measures and pharmacological alternatives to reduce the seizures.
“[T]hese doctors noted that at that time there was no continuous unbearable suffering. The epilepsy was accompanied by significant discomfort, but the epileptic seizures were not continuous,” said the report.
The parents decided to refuse the palliative care and sought the opinion of another doctor who agreed with the first doctor that there was no possibility of reducing the child’s suffering and recommended death by euthanasia.
“The parents then agreed that the child would be euthanized, and doctors sedated and killed the toddler,” Davis reports.
Ten months later, the government committee reviewing the matter determined that the physician acted according to the law.
Right to Life UK reports that infant euthanasia has been practiced in the Netherlands for some time, but only newborns and children over twelve years of age can die by euthanasia. The toddler marks the first time a non-infant child died by euthanasia since the country expanded its law to allow children of any age to be euthanized provided the case met certain conditions. These include unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement and no alternative available to ease their suffering. The final decision is made by a doctor together with the child’s parents. Where possible, the child can also be consulted.
In this case, the parents opted to forgo the pediatric palliative care that would have diminished their child’s suffering even if the unintended side effect of these measures often means hastening death. For the Catholic parent, this would be morally permissible under the principle of double effect.
“Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged. (No. 2279)
The Church considers no one to be un-care-able!
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