Netherlands: First Child Euthanized Since Law Expansion - Five Days Before French Vote

Context

We had previously reported, in this thread, the extension of the Dutch euthanasia law to children under 12, which came into force in 2023. This decision marked a major symbolic threshold in the evolution of European end-of-life law. Today, this threshold has been crossed in practice: the first death of a child under 12 under this legal framework has been officially recorded in the Netherlands, according to Catholic News Agency (25 June 2026). The coincidence with the French legislative calendar—with a solemn vote in the National Assembly scheduled for 30 June—is not insignificant.

The Facts

According to data published by the Dutch Euthanasia Review Committee, a child under 12 was euthanised under the conditions set by the law: incurable illness, suffering deemed unbearable, parental consent, and compliant medical opinion. The identity and precise diagnosis are not made public to preserve the family’s anonymity. In France, the bill under vote does not provide for euthanasia for children. However, it establishes a principle—the right to assisted dying for adults with a serious and incurable illness—whose progressive extension, in light of the Belgian and Dutch experience, is structurally foreseeable. The solemn vote is scheduled for 30 June 2026. The French Society for Palliative Care (SFAP) maintains its firm opposition to the bill.

Doctrinal Analysis

Evangelium Vitae (John Paul II, 1995, n. 65) defines euthanasia as "an action or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering" and qualifies it as "a grave violation of the law of God." The Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2277) specifies that it is "morally unacceptable." The specificity of paediatric euthanasia lies in the fact that consent cannot, by definition, come from the child themselves below a certain age: it is parental consent that substitutes, creating a legal fiction that natural law cannot validate. The child, subject of inalienable rights (can. 1136; Declaration of the Rights of the Child, 1959), becomes the object of a decision made on their behalf—even with the best of intentions.

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

This first Dutch death is not anecdotal: it confirms that the logic of progressive extension of attacks on life—which Evangelium Vitae (n. 17) describes as characteristic of the "culture of death"—is not a rhetorical argument but an empirical reality. France has looked to the Netherlands as a model for twenty years on these issues. Catholic parliamentarians who will vote on 30 June must now integrate this precedent into their decision: not to give in to fear, but to measure the real trajectory of the law they are about to enshrine.

Critical Reading and Blind Spots

Supporters of the French law argue that the French legal framework is more restrictive than the Dutch model and that such an extension is impossible in the short term. This overlooks the parliamentary dynamic: in Belgium, euthanasia for minors was legalised in 2014, twelve years after legalisation for adults (2002). Each extension presents itself as a "human exception" until it becomes the rule. The SFAP is right to highlight this risk. Let us name it clearly, without catastrophism, but without euphemism.

To Reflect and Act

"Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them" (Mk 10:14). The death of a Dutch child, under legal cover, challenges us five days before the French vote. There is still time to write to your MP, sign petitions, and pray. The Church does not abandon the dying: it accompanies them. That is the true response to suffering.