Assisted Suicide - A Family Game

My guess is that Belgium has some sort of voting system since they are a federal parliamentary democracy and I also assume minors aren't granted the rights or autonomy that adults are. Here in the US, children can't drive, vote, drink, or smoke while underage because they aren't viewed as mature and/or wise enough to make such decisions for themselves. Belguim lawmakers seem to think children are old enough to decide whether they (children) should be allowed to end their lives. Does it make a difference if they have a terminal illness?

Senators Jeannine Leduc and Paul Wille said in the bill that terminally ill children and teenagers had as much right to choose when they wanted to die as anyone else.

"Their suffering is as great (and) the situation they face is as intolerable and inhumane," the senators' bill read.

There's no doubt in my mind that they suffer, but that suffering doesn't make them mature enough to make a decision such as this.