Belgian law on euthanasia for children, with no age limit, will be first in world

After debate splitting professions, parliament due to pass law allowing euthanasia for terminally ill minors 'suffering unbearably'

The Guardian, Ian Traynor in Brussels, Wednesday 12 February 2014

Belgium senate members voting last November on expanding the euthanasia
law to minors. Photograph: Kristof Van Accom/AFP/Getty Images

Belgium is expected on Thursday to become the first country in the world to abolish all age restrictions on the right to die, extending permitted euthanasia to terminally ill children.

Following months of painful and divisive debate the Belgian parliament is expected to pass a law extending euthanasia – which has been possible in the country for the past 12 years – to minors.

Belgium is one of only three countries to have legalised euthanasia, the others being Luxembourg and the Netherlands. The Dutch also allow minors the right to die from the age of 12. Belgium will be the first to drop all age restrictions.

The contested legislation has already gone through the upper house of senate by a 3-1 majority and also passed parliament's justice committee.

The centre-left, liberals and Greens are expected to support the extension, while parts of the centre-right, allied with the Catholic church, which opposes euthanasia, will vote against.

"It is not about deciding whether a child is or is not to die," said Daniel Baquelaine, an MP who backs the new law and who is also a doctor. "Death is coming quickly. It is therefore necessary to allow the child to express what he thinks of the end of life, about how to die."

The extension of the right to die to minors is hedged with tight conditions. The bill states that the child must "be in a hopeless medical situation of constant and unbearable suffering that cannot be eased and which will cause death in the short-term".

Parental approval is needed, although it is not quite clear what happens if two parents of a child disagree. Psychiatric and medical advice is also required.

Although no age limits are set, the bill says that the child must display "a capacity of discernment and be conscious at the moment of the request".

It is not clear whether this rules out euthanasia for the very young. And the notion is contested by opponents.

A group of 160 paediatricians, opposed to giving children the right to die, said: "In practice, there is no objective method for determining whether a child is gifted with the ability of discernment and judgment. This is actually a largely subjective assessment and subject to influences."

The heated debate has split the medical, legal, and political professions, with the Catholic church staging prayer vigils in protest, and hospice and palliative care specialists stating themselves generally opposed.

Opinion polls show public majority support for the radical move. The paediatricians have called for a delay and further debate on the matter.

While supporters in the medical profession say such euthanasia is likely to be applied only in a few cases a year, the paediatricians claimed it was not necessary. They said they had never faced such demands; palliative care was now so sophisticated they could "fully control the physical pain, choking, or anxiety as they approach death".

They added that allowing euthanasia for children would create unbearable stress for carers and relatives.

"The care of seriously ill children is already complex enough. In such circumstances, it is even more difficult for medical staff and the family to be further faced with a particularly difficult ethical choice. The extension of the law to children will only increase their distress and stress."

Supporters said the bill would help bring ethical clarity and close loopholes – such as where doctors were quietly acceding to child euthanasia in excruciating circumstances but then facing prosecution for breaking the law.

There were 1,432 cases of euthanasia in 2012 in Belgium, according to official figures.

"The existence of a law is the best means of guarding against possible malpractice," said Le Soir, the main French language newspaper in Belgium.

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Kryon Q&A

Question: I've been wondering about this for a while now. Do we decide how and when we're going to die before we come into the world? Is that why some people live a long and healthy life, while others die from an illness or accident at an early age? Does it have anything to do with our past lives?

Answer: Human death is not seen on this side of the veil as anything but a transition of energy and a freshening of expression. This is difficult for you to understand, for to you, death is pain, suffering, and grief. Can you even begin to understand why this is the setup? We see it as part of the "play of Earth." In any play, even the Human with the knife in his chest gets up after the curtain comes down and has a party with the cast. The cast members all know that the adventure in the play is not real. But in the play of Earth, your reality says that life is everything there is. Therefore, it's played "for keeps." It has to be this way, to make the challenge and the test... fair.

Yes, you all have a beginning setup contract where your shift (death) is planned. Sometimes it's to facilitate another person (such as the profound energy created through the death of a child or suicide). So it can be part of an agreement with great energy around it, or a simple potential to leave when it's time. Each case is different, and yes, it is often tempered with a balance from past-life experience. It's also entirely temporary and waiting to be rewritten!

All this is changing greatly. With the new energy brings a change in the system of life and death on Earth. Indigo Children are coming into the planet without past-life karmic attributes. They're "clean" of this karma, and also have a very different setup. They still have a potential life line, and they carry information about past-life experience and the wisdom of what they learned, but they're also aware that they can create a change in that beginning contract. This is the biggest difference between the old- and new-energy Human. The old-energy Human somehow feels that the contract is absolute, that nothing can change it. He actually tries to follow this beginning temporary setup to its destination! This is information that has to be unlearned for most of you. The child? He knows better. He can do anything! Did you notice his attitude? He comes in ready to create and manifest. He's frustrated that you don't see the potentials, or that you wallow in some linear system, or that you try to follow an old setup. Did you notice? This is all part of the new Human-life scenario.

Whereas the plan of old created life and death as a cycle in a karmic engine of lesson - creating energy to help the earth - that is now void. The new system is one that encourages a contract rewrite, including death time, age, and even life lesson. It's a startling change, and brings new meaning to death in the new energy.

Also, there's this fact: We told you in 1989 that a great number of Humans might have to pass quickly in these times for the new energy to manifest. You're seeing it now. With war and disease, the numbers are quickly being fulfilled. What does this mean? It means that many actually had the agreement to pass at this time if the earth had accomplished a vibratory rate shift. It did, and the process began.

What is the reason for this? Although you might fee that it's too sorrowful to think about, we give you the truth: The new Indigo color of Human Being will do far better on the planet than one with a very old energy. Therefore, many are leaving early to immediately come back as Humans with the Indigo color. This will facilitate peace on Earth faster than anything else.

 "Current" Events –  Apr 10, 2005 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... The Ethics of Life

You, as a Human Being, are designed to appreciate and love life. But you put it in a box. You think you live once. You say, life is precious; make it count; keep it going at all costs; make it work. And the underlying thought is that because you only go around one time, all the purpose is wrapped up in one lifetime. Well, I'm going to give you something to think about, something that happened just recently that tens of millions of people all over earth who have the western news media know of.

It was all about one woman's life, and you know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Terri [Terri Schiavo]. And I'm going to talk about Terri because, you know, she's here [speaking of the real Terri]! And I'm going to give you a perspective about Terri that perhaps you hadn't thought about before, and as I do it, she's going to watch.

It's very metaphysical, you know? This perspective is one from my side of the veil. Terri leaned into the wind of birth many years ago, just as you did. I was there, too. There were potentials laying in front of her - a track that she could take if she wished. There was no predestination, only predispositions of energy that laid before her: the parents she would have (which she had selected), the man she might meet or marry, the accident waiting to happen. All of these things were in her "potential track," and she could have chosen not to go there.

But like so many of you, she looked at it and examined it. These were the times we spoke to her and said, "Dear one, you're going into another Human lifetime that has a potential that's awesome - grander than most Humans on the planet will ever experience. You'll get to present something to tens of millions of people. You'll make them think about life. You'll change the legal system of your country. You'll awaken peoples' awareness to situations that need to be addressed with respect to morality, integrity, and even intuition. Will you do it?"

And I remember what she said. The grand angel who stood before me, who you now call Terri, smiled broadly and said, "I'm ready for that." And some of you cry in your sorrow and say "Why is this Human dead? How could such a thing be tolerated? Why would such a thing happen? Life is so precious." And I ask you this, as Terri looks on in her joy, would you take this away from her? Would you take that away from humanity, what she showed and did that resulted directly in her passing?

Start thinking of these things, perhaps differently. We've told you before that there are even those Human Beings who come in with a predisposition of suicide! What a horrible thought, you might say. "Kryon, could that even be appropriate?" And we say this: More than appropriate, it's by design! "But why should that be?" You might say. "What a horrible dishonorable death." And if that's your reaction, you're placing the whole grand picture in your own little Human box.

When you start examining it spiritually, without Human bias, you start to see that around a suicide there's this energy that develops. It's all about the family. Is there shame? Is there drama? Does it kick the family in the pants so that perhaps they might study things they never did - or perhaps they might they even look within themselves for spirituality? Blessed is the one that comes in with these tasks [like suicide]. There are so many of them who do. For these are the grease of personal change within families, and provide a gift that is grand!

You see, Spirit looks at these things differently. The curtain goes up, it goes down. You come and you go and there are profound lessons, some of which are taught harshly, by those who teach them through their own deaths.

"Well, what is it Kryon? Don't dodge the question with a diversion to suicide, for this isn't what Terri did. Is it proper or is it improper to have somebody in this vegetative state put to death by others around her?" Our answer: Exactly which Human are you talking about? You want a blanket answer, don't you? For six and half billion souls and paths, you want one answer for all. Well, you won't get one. For Terri, the answer is a solid yes. It was as it should have been. She came in with this grand opportunity to change the world, and she did it while everyone watched.

There is appropriateness in all things and sometimes you create for yourselves what seems to be inappropriate. Yet later you understand what the gift was within the challenge. Celebrate Terri, and don't think of this as a shameful thing that Humans did to her. Think of it instead as a book that was written for you to look at, one which pushes you to a place to ask, "What should we do about this now, personally? What should our legislatures do about this, if anything? How can we approach these things more humanely and with more honor? Is our culture addressing this issue? Are we addressing this issue personally?" Let's put these questions where they belong. It's not about "right to life"; it's about the appropriateness of "this life." Each case is individual, and some are profoundly given for the planet and for those around the individual.

Oh, as all of you came into this planet and leaned into the wind of birth separately, each was unique. Each of you has a different story, a different goal, but all have the same purpose: the elevation of the vibration of the planet. Sometimes it happens to many of you at the same time. We'll get to that before we finish. ..."

"Common Questions from Non-Lightworkers" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll)

"... Question Two: What happens when you die?

This is so complicated, but I'm going to divide it into two parts, both spiritual. The death of a Human, which all of you in the room have experienced, is not the end. This is intuitive within you, because you've gone through it before. But the truth of it hides just under the surface. You're not really quite sure what will happen to you, but your intuition tells you it's not the end.

There is no sting in death. Not for you. But for the ones around you, there is. So the first thing I want to tell you about death is that those around you often suffer. Sometimes that is appropriate, for it brings them to their knees, especially when you leave too soon. Sometimes, because of that, they will discover what is inside of them, incredible spiritual solace, and then realize that your death was the catalyst for their enlightenment. Do you understand that process? Sometimes you are partners in this, with agreements in advance for potentials to help each other even through Human death. So it's not something to mourn at all. Often, it's the completion of a beautiful arrangement.

What happens when you die physically? That's easy - you return to the dust of the planet. What more do you want to know? Corporeal? Easy. That's just part of the Gaia process. But let me tell you about the moment of transition. You lose three ounces of something that no one knows about. The three ounces is quantum information. It's the quantum part of your spiritual core, everything that ever was of you, and it doesn't go up, it goes down. It goes back to the Cave of Creation and beyond.

We've told you this before. Part of it also goes to the Crystalline Grid. Some of it even goes to the cetaceans of the earth. There is a system here that allows Gaia to remember your life, and it's stored in the planet. Your spirit comes home, but not your Akashic Record. It stays on the planet because the planet owns it. You have changed the planet by what you've done, but you don't bring it home with you. When you come home, however, we have a party. I've told you that before. Oh, dear one, there's no sting in death. Not your own. You will know it right away, within three days. By then, you are "fully aware" that you're a piece of God. You remember. You hear the music again.

Then soon, you come back here (Earth), and when you do, it's sometimes faster than you've been told, for things are speeding up. Sometimes you come back born into your own family as grandchildren within your same karmic group. That's a process of the Lightworker so that your grandparents can teach you things that only they can teach you.

And when you take your first breath, you pick up something. You pick up all of the soul energy from the Cave of Creation and the Crystalline Grid that you stored there when you left. That is called Akashic inheritance. Artists become artists. Policemen become policemen. It's in your genes. It's in your DNA, who you used to be. Even the proclivities for the things you like and don't like - like food, choices - come in with you from the past Akashic inheritance.

Sometimes the question is asked, "Should I be a vegetarian? What is correct for my body spiritually?" I will tell you what is correct for your body spiritually - the thing that makes sense to you! If you've spent lifetimes in Tibet or India, you're probably craving different foods than that which is in the United States. That's how it works, dear ones. Your body reacts to what it remembers, and if that serves you by not eating meat, then that is what you should do for your health. Do not project it onto your friends, for they have their own Akashic health remembrance. They have their own system that works for them.

Humans love to compartmentalize everything and, therefore, when someone finds something good for them, they wish everybody to do it. Do not criticize others because they don't have your unique remembrance. This also applies to the belief systems of others. The ones who have found God or have found joy in a system that works for them is because they are tuned to it. Perhaps they were the very disciples of the masters! They're tuned to it and they want for everyone what works for them. Much of it has integrity, but it may not be for you.

What happens at death? It's a system - beauty, honor, and you become the piece of God that you know you are. When Elijah ascended, you got to see it through the eyes of Elisha. Elijah turned into a light so bright that Elisha couldn't even look at it. Then it split into parts. Elisha saw the Merkabah, the field around the Human, the chariot that Elijah rode in. He saw it and reported it. What do you think it was? The Human got to see ascension. That's death. ...."

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version)