24 infants were killed by lethal injection by doctors during a period of 15 months in Flanders, in Belgium, a shocking study has revealed.

A report has exposed the rate of euthanasia of infants in Belgium between September 2016 and December 2017.

It was found that 24 infants were intentionally killed by doctors who had an “explicit life-shortening intention”, believing that there was “no hope of a bearable future” for the children. Although the term “euthanasia” was not employed, lethal injection was administered to end their lives.

The study only included data from Flanders, so the total number of infants euthanised in Belgium is likely much higher than 24. The current rate, in 2020/21, may also have risen, though this data is not available.

While the deaths were apparently assented to by parents, there is no indication that the conditions of the infants were terminal.

Although infant euthanasia is not broadly legal in Belgium, where euthanasia was legalised for adults in 2002, a 2014 law allowed for doctors to kill children who are conscious and capable of discernment.

Lack of reporting by media and doctors 

Although barely reported on by mainstream media, the euthanasia of infants is common, in the Netherlands and in Belgium, where between 7% and 9% of all infant deaths involved active euthanasia, according to reports up to 2010 – and these deaths often took place “without explicit request”.

Regarding the extent of infant euthanasia, bioethicist Dr. Greg Pike, of Bios Centre, noted in a recent research paper that the true rate “is so poorly reported that not even an estimate can be made.

Last year, the Dutch health minister said that the Netherlands was considering euthanasia for children aged 1 to 12, as reported by SPUC.

“Reprehensible”

SPUC’s Michael Robinson, Executive Director (Public Affairs & Legal Services), said: “That parents and especially children are being subjected to such a devastating decision is a scandal.

“Even if a child has the right to consent and can somehow understand what they are consenting to, which is doubtful, the thought of a vulnerable child also having to contend with the deliberate ending of his or her own life is reprehensible.

“No child should be made to contemplate the ending of their own life. Treatment and care, not lethal injection and death, can be the only loving response to the challenges of child illness.”