You would think leaders in countries like Belgium would know better since they have experienced what it means to have life and death left in the hands of utilitarian power (i.e. the Holocaust). But of course that was the evil Nazi regime who killed people out of hatred. Today, in the name of compassion, they are preparing to kill children whose only crime is experiencing pain and suffering. It does not seem to dawn on the supporters of these measures that the outcome is exactly the same — the government is approving of the destruction of vulnerable people.

One of the more successful tactics of our enemy is to turn our hearts against the ones under our care — to turn protectors into executioners.

For decades parents and doctors have legally killed unborn children in the name of “compassion” because the child would have lived with disabilities or would have died shortly after birth.

But killing unborn children apparently isn’t enough.

Child Euthanasia

Belgium’s Upper House approved a measure that would allow children to be legally murdered based on pain and suffering, as reported by AFP:

The bill allows minors to ask for euthanasia on the grounds that their illness is terminal, that they are in great pain and that there is no treatment to alleviate their distress.

The request has to be agreed by the patient’s medical team and approved by the child’s parents.

There are no age restrictions. Allegedly the child has to be considered competent to make a decision about killing himself or herself, in addition to the doctors and the child’s parents agreeing to it. Interestingly, they don’t allow children under the age of 18 to drive or vote regardless of how mature their parents or teachers think they are. Some decisions apparently are less important than others.

A Murderous System

And Belgium doesn’t exactly have a pure record in how its existing euthanasia laws are being implemented on adults. A ten-year study on the 2002 law covering adults outlined several serious concerns — concerns such as not defining what constitutes “constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering,” as well as ineffective oversight by those who legally oversee the practice, including the inability of pharmacies to place controls on these death-inducing drugs.

In other words, they cannot assure the people of Belgium that the so-called protections for adults written into the law are actually being followed.

And now they want to include their children under this murderous system.

Destroying the Vulnerable, Again

You would think leaders in countries like Belgium would know better since they have experienced what it means to have life and death left in the hands of utilitarian power (i.e. the Holocaust). But of course that was the evil Nazi regime who killed people out of hatred. Today, in the name of compassion, they are preparing to kill children whose only crime is experiencing pain and suffering. It does not seem to dawn on the supporters of these measures that the outcome is exactly the same — the government is approving of the destruction of vulnerable people.

They are actually already doing it, so one of the arguments in support of the measure is that they might as well make it legal, as was reported in the New York Times:

Mr. Mahoux (the sponsor of the legislation) said in an interview before the vote that euthanasia for terminally ill children was already practiced on occasion in some Belgian hospitals and that the law would not lead to a surge in medically accelerated death among sick children but would save doctors from potential criminal prosecution.

Normally we would seek out and prosecute those who break the law, and one would think especially so for those who kill children. But since it involves children who make us uncomfortable, Belgium is showing the way by just changing the law.

We must recognize that such actions show that the god of this world has blinded them (2 Corinthians 4:4). They can’t see the horrible reality of what they are actually advocating. They can’t see that they are destroying young ones made in the image of God. How else can they believe that those who argue against killing children lack compassion!

Value, Pray, Hope

As dark as this news is out of Belgium, we know that God can turn hearts. We do not need to live with a weary inevitability about how far society has fallen. We can cry out to God to do what only he can (Ezekiel 11:19), including change callous political leaders.

We should not be surprised that Satan would turn his cruelty on the weakest, the most vulnerable, the most dependent of this world. Satan knows he is a defeated foe, but he is not yet done killing as many as he can before his final judgment. He hates God and those valuable to him, especially the weak who bring him glory and are indispensable to his church (1 Corinthians 1:22;27–28).

May they be equally valuable to us! Let us pray for our leaders, asking God to move their hearts, as we know he can (Proverbs 21:1).

Because without the light of Christ penetrating into dark places, the decision of a small nation in Europe will creep into others, destroying even more young lives.

John Knight is Director of Development at Desiring God. He is married to Dianne and together they parent their four children: Paul, Hannah, Daniel, and Johnny. Paul lives with multiple disabilities including blindness, autism, cognitive impairments and a seizure disorder. John blogs on issues of disability, the Bible, and the church at The Works of God. This article  is used with permission.