The Dutch Public Prosecution Service has decided not to prosecute the doctor who ended the life of a child of almost two, closing the first case brought under the regulation that extended euthanasia to children aged between one and 12.
Prosecutors followed the advice of the review committee that had examined the case earlier in the month and found the doctor complied with every due-care requirement. The decision was reported on September 23 by the Dutch broadcaster NOS.
The child suffered serious complications almost immediately after birth. An MRI scan at four and a half months showed extensive damage to the brain.
That damage left the child with severe cerebral palsy, a visual impairment and epileptic seizures several times a day that did not respond to medication. The child could not speak, barely saw and struggled to breathe and swallow because of mucus in the lungs.
The treating doctor and physicians from other regions concluded the suffering was unbearable and without prospect of relief, and that the child would not reach adulthood. The procedure was carried out with the parents’ agreement at the end of 2025.
The Committee for Late-Term Abortion and Termination of Life in Newborns and Children published its judgment on September 9. It found that motor skills, behaviour and personality had all been severely impaired with no possibility of improvement, and that neither medical nor other interventions had made any difference.
The case became public only in June, when Health Minister Sophie Hermans told the House of Representatives that the committee had received its first report involving a child of that age. No details were released at the time.
The regulation took effect on February 1, 2024. Until then, life-ending procedures were possible only for newborns, under the Groningen Protocol of 2005, and for patients aged 12 and over.
Doctors must establish that the child is terminally ill and suffering hopelessly and unbearably, that there is no other reasonable solution and that at least one independent physician has assessed the case. Officials expected the regulation to be applied no more than five times a year. It has been used once.
The arrangement was politically sensitive from the outset because the children it covers cannot consent, leaving the decision to parents and doctors. Some specialists also warned that doctors would be deterred, since the final word rests with prosecutors rather than the committee.
The Netherlands legalised euthanasia for adults in 2002 and the annual total passed 10,000 deaths for the first time in 2025, more than 6 per cent of all deaths in the country.
Belgium removed age limits for minors in 2014, and France legalised euthanasia in July for adults with incurable illnesses.
