Belgian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to extend the country's euthanasia law to children under 18. скачать в хорошем качестве

Belgian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to extend the country's euthanasia law to children under 18.

(13 Feb 2014) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 931104 BELGIAN LAWMAKERS VOTED OVERWHELMINGLY TO EXTEND THE COUNTRY'S EUTHANASIA LAW TO CHILDREN UNDER 18. IT'S A RIGHT THAT IS ALREADY GRANTED TO BELGIUM'S ADULTS. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) DR GERLANT VAN BERLAER, UZ BRUSSELS (UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF BRUSSELS): "We are talking about children that are really at the end of their life, and it's not that they have months or years to go. They will, their life will end anyway." THE CHANGE TO THE CURRENT LAW ALLOWS TERMINALLY ILL CHILDREN WHO ARE IN GREAT PAIN TO ASK TO BE PUT TO DEATH BY THEIR DOCTORS....PROVIDED PARENTS AGREE. OPPONENTS OF THE LAW SAY IT COULD LEAD TO CHANGES ELSEWHERE SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) PROFESSOR MICHEL GHINS, CO-FOUNDER OF EUTHANASIE STOP: "I think the fact that Belgium is passing this law should be, should sound as a warning bell to other countries which might be tempted to legalize euthanasia." THREE DOCTORS AND A PSYCHOLOGIST WOULD ALSO HAVE TO CERTIFY THAT THE CHILD WAS AWARE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DECISION. SOT (ENGLISH) DR GERLANT VAN BERLAER, UZ BRUSSELS (UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL OF BRUSSELS): "It's only for these cases where nothing is possible any more except to let them go in a dignifying way and in a pain-free way that they will pop up these kind of questions. But these are very rare conditions, luckily for us and luckily for the people." BELGIUM'S ORIGINAL EUTHANASIA LAW WHICH APPLIED ONLY TO ADULTS WAS PASSED MORE THAN A DECADE AGO. THIS LEGISLATION WAS ALSO WIDELY SUPPORTED BY THE PUBLIC AND WILL NOW GO TO KING PHILIPPE WHO IS EXPECTED TO SIGN THE MEASURE. WARREN LEVINSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...