Committee advises to make euthanasia possible for people with advanced dementia
The Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics wants to make euthanasia possible for people with advanced dementia or other neurodegenerative disorders. The Committee published a comprehensive advisory report on this matter on Friday.
At present, someone with advanced dementia cannot legally obtain euthanasia in Belgium. The current law requires that a person be mentally competent when requesting euthanasia, or that a prior living will or advance directive has been drawn up that applies when the patient is in a state of irreversible loss of consciousness – a coma.
This means that people with dementia can currently only request euthanasia if they are still sufficiently mentally competent. In 2024, 56 people with dementia in our country received euthanasia.
“It is not a black-and-white assessment, but doctors do feel that procedures for people with dementia have been carried out ‘too early’ because it will no longer be legally possible to do so later,” stated Patrick Cras, vice-chairman of the Committee. The Committee therefore recommends extending the euthanasia law to include people who “are conscious, but whose mental competence and ability to express their wishes have been irreversibly impaired by illness or accident.”
Public debates have mainly focused on people with advanced dementia, but the Committee's description is deliberately broad. It also applies to people with other degenerative conditions, such as Parkinson's disease, ALS, Huntington's disease, or people who experience similar consequences after a stroke or accident.
The Committee recognises that the patient may exhibit behavioural changes due to the disease and as the disease progresses. Therefore, a living will must be carefully considered and formulated without pressure, and it must clearly describe the complex suffering of the person in question. It must also describe clearly identified thresholds, at which point the person would find it unbearable to continue living.
“The living will is not a piece of paper that someone draws up on their 60th birthday, so to speak, and then puts in a drawer,” clarified professor Martin Hiele. "It is discussed with a doctor, family members and loved ones. Nor is it a document that remains the same once and for all. As long as someone is still conscious, the declaration can be amended according to the situation."
“Recent surveys of citizens and doctors show a willingness to accept this extension.”
The Committee formulated the advisory report on its own initiative, not at the request of the government. Discussions began in 2019. After a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, talks resumed at the end of 2023. In the meantime, the topic has also made it onto the political agenda.
“Attitudes have matured, both among doctors and politicians and among the general public,” declared Cras. “Recent surveys of citizens and doctors also show that there is a willingness to accept this extension.”
Illustration © PHOTO SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY RF
Related news
