Slippery Slope of Euthanasia for Children
Interview With Bioethicist Father Gonzalo Miranda
ROME, SEPT. 6, 2004 (Zenit.org).- The Netherlands’ decision to allow the euthanasia of children could lead to the practice of arbitrarily deciding which youngsters will live or die, warns a leading bioethicist.
On Aug. 30, the Dutch judiciary allowed Groningen’s University Hospital to induce the death of children under 12, including newborns, when they are suffering from incurable sicknesses or undergoing unbearable suffering. A 2002 law already regulated the practice of euthanasia in the country.
“Unfortunately, all the concerns that arose in regard to the Dutch legislation on euthanasia are being tragically verified,” Legionary of Christ Father Gonzalo Miranda says in this interview with ZENIT.
Father Miranda, dean of the School of Bioethics of the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University, represented the Catholic Church on UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee, entrusted with writing a Declaration on Universal Norms of Bioethics.
The full interview is on www.zenit.org