Belgium’s approach to euthanasia has come under the spotlight in the UK in recent weeks as British MPs debate whether to legalise assisted dying in the UK.
A key House of Commons vote is expected to take place this Friday which would determine whether the bill progresses to its next parliamentary stage.
Belgium’s liberal approach to the issue has frequently been raised during parliamentary debates on the subject.
In a UK parliamentary debate last week, Dame Harriet Baldwin referred to a controversial online advert, financed by the Belgian government, which showed a young woman in a yoga class talking about her seriously ill aunt. In the advert, the young woman’s friends ask her whether she has considered the option of euthanasia for her relative.
Dame Harriet cited this as an example of the potential for the commercialisation of assisted dying – a major concern for opponents of the bill in the UK.
Opponents of the law have suggested that legalising assisted dying in the UK would lead to a “slippery slope” whereby people choose to die even if they are not suffering with terminal conditions.
They fear that some people may be pushed into choosing to die to relieve pressure on health budgets and hospital beds, due to pressure from families, or even from embarrassment at being seen as a burden.
What is the law on euthanasia in Belgium?
Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002, and the number of people opting to die in this way has increased dramatically in the intervening years. In 2003, there were 236 recorded cases, but this went up to 3,991 last year.
Since then, Belgium and the Netherlands have been joined by a number of other countries that have made some form of assisted dying legal, including Luxembourg, Spain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as some US states.
Belgium’s euthanasia laws are very different to the assisted dying law proposed in the UK.
The proposed British bill would allow terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the right to medically end their lives in England and Wales. In other words, the patient ends their own life but a doctor prescribes the life-ending medication.
In Belgium, meanwhile, a doctor administers the life-ending medication, and the law permits euthanasia even when death is not expected in the near future. Here, a patient can elect to die with a doctor's help if they are terminally ill, in sustained and long-lasting pain, or suffering from multiple debilities of extreme old age.
Belgium has one of the most liberal euthanasia laws in the world. Since the law was introduced in 2002, it has been extended to cover under-18s, though only in the most exceptional circumstances.
Euthanasia for psychiatric disorders is also permitted – though a recent academic study shows that psychiatric euthanasia is “extremely rare”, accounting for just 1.3% of all euthanasia cases in Belgium between 2002 and 2023.
According to the study, euthanasia is most common among people in their 70s and 80s, who often suffer from terminal cancer or several conditions. Cancer remains the primary justification for euthanasia in Belgium, being the cause in over half (55.5%) of cases, mostly involving incurable tumours.
Dozens of foreigners come to Belgium for euthanasia
Last year, 120 foreign patients travelled to Belgium for euthanasia, according to the latest figures from Belgium’s Euthanasia Review and Control Commission, as reported by La Libre Belgique on Wednesday.
Among these foreign patients, there were 106 French nationals, six Belgians residing abroad, two Germans, two Dutch, and one each from Spain, Hungary, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.
The majority of these patients were between 60 and 79 years old, suffering from neurological disorders, tumours, or multiple serious illnesses. In approximately two-thirds of these cases, the patients were expected to die shortly.
“Requests from foreign patients are far greater than the number of euthanasia procedures granted,” Jacqueline Herremans, a member of the euthanasia commission, stated.
Since March 2024, a patient’s country of residence must be included in the visible section of euthanasia declarations. This helps provide a clearer picture of the trend for foreign patients travelling to Belgium for euthanasia.
While Belgian law does not require residency within the country to receive euthanasia, foreign patients must still meet all other legal requirements.
The request must be voluntary, considered, repeated, and made without external pressure. Patients must be in a medically hopeless condition due to a severe, incurable illness. Their suffering must be constant, unbearable, and non-relievable.
