The Netherlands is currently looking at giving parents the right to look into euthanasia if their child is terminally ill.

But this can only happen if their child is under the age of 12.

The legislation, which is currently being presented, would only cover children that are terminally ill.

Lawmakers admit that the rule will only apply to a small group of cases.

As of now, Euthanasia is currently legal in the country, however, it is only available to people that are 12 years or older.

Another thing, parents are allowed to give consent to euthanize babies if they are up to 1-year-old.

The government is currently discussing children aged between 1 and 12 being given the same rights as the ones that children above 12 and below 1 get if they are terminally ill.

Hugo de Jonge, the Health Minister of Netherlands, said that there is a study that revealed experts believe children in the age bracket of 1 between to 12 should have right to terminate their lives if they are extremely sick.

In a letter to the parliament, Hugo said:

The study shows that there is a need for active termination of life among doctors and parents of incurably ill children, who are suffering hopelessly and unbearably and will die within the foreseeable future.

It is likely that the Health Minister will be pushing forward with a proposal.

In the proposal, it is expected that only 5 to 10 children that need the treatment will be getting it. The patients need to be suffering unnecessarily for a long time without any notice of changes in their lives.

6,361 people have been euthanized in the Netherlands in 2019 alone. Out of those patients, 91 percent had conditions that were incurable.