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Report: 25% of Belgian euthanasia patients in 2025 were not terminally ill
A new report from Belgium revealed that nearly a quarter of euthanasia patients were not terminally ill in 2025.
Belgium first legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2002.
The practice quickly expanded with safeguards increasingly relaxed, and 2025 saw a record number of people euthanized — up 1,809% since 2003.
A recently released biennial report revealed that nearly a quarter of all deaths consisted of people who were not terminally ill.
In 2002, Belgium legalized euthanasia and, like in many other countries, it rapidly expanded. The first year of legalization saw 24 people killed. During the first full year of legalized euthanasia (2003), 235 people were killed. That number steadily increased year after year, with 2025 having the highest number of euthanasia deaths yet.
In 2025, 4,486 assisted deaths were committed, according to the annual review released by Belgium’s Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia. This represented a 1,809% increase since 2003, and made up four percent (4%) of all deaths in Belgium. People in Belgium have died by physician assisted death for reasons unrelated to terminal illness, such as depression, PTSD and blindness.
In 2014, Belgium began allowing minors to be euthanized as well; one 16-year-old girl, Eva, was euthanized in 2023, and her organs were harvested.
The latest report issued by the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia revealed that 1,117 euthanasia deaths, or 24.9% of all registered euthanasias, were committed on people who were not terminally ill.
Some requested death due to cognitive or psychiatric conditions, like dementia, while over half of the individuals had a combination of chronic and incurable conditions. However, their natural deaths were not expected within the "near future."
Most people killed were elderly, though there was one teenager who died by assisted death in 2025. Seven minors have died by euthanasia since 2014.
Disturbingly, the overwhelming majority — 85.6% — of cases were approved by the commission at the first hearing, without a request for further information. This was an increase from 2024, where 80% of cases were approved immediately. The other cases required clarification or more information from a doctor, but ultimately, it did not matter; every single case was approved, and every single person killed.
Though assisted suicide advocates claim it is needed to prevent dying people from suffering in their final days, this report makes it clear that this is not the case.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
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·Report: 25% of Belgian euthanasia patients in 2025 were not terminally ill
A new report from Belgium revealed that nearly a quarter of euthanasia patients were not terminally ill in 2025.
Belgium first legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2002.
The practice quickly expanded with safeguards increasingly relaxed, and 2025 saw a record number of people euthanized — up 1,809% since 2003.
A recently released biennial report revealed that nearly a quarter of all deaths consisted of people who were not terminally ill.
In 2002, Belgium legalized euthanasia and, like in many other countries, it rapidly expanded. The first year of legalization saw 24 people killed. During the first full year of legalized euthanasia (2003), 235 people were killed. That number steadily increased year after year, with 2025 having the highest number of euthanasia deaths yet.
In 2025, 4,486 assisted deaths were committed, according to the annual review released by Belgium’s Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia. This represented a 1,809% increase since 2003, and made up four percent (4%) of all deaths in Belgium. People in Belgium have died by physician assisted death for reasons unrelated to terminal illness, such as depression, PTSD and blindness.
In 2014, Belgium began allowing minors to be euthanized as well; one 16-year-old girl, Eva, was euthanized in 2023, and her organs were harvested.
The latest report issued by the Federal Commission for the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia revealed that 1,117 euthanasia deaths, or 24.9% of all registered euthanasias, were committed on people who were not terminally ill.
Some requested death due to cognitive or psychiatric conditions, like dementia, while over half of the individuals had a combination of chronic and incurable conditions. However, their natural deaths were not expected within the "near future."
Most people killed were elderly, though there was one teenager who died by assisted death in 2025. Seven minors have died by euthanasia since 2014.
Disturbingly, the overwhelming majority — 85.6% — of cases were approved by the commission at the first hearing, without a request for further information. This was an increase from 2024, where 80% of cases were approved immediately. The other cases required clarification or more information from a doctor, but ultimately, it did not matter; every single case was approved, and every single person killed.
Though assisted suicide advocates claim it is needed to prevent dying people from suffering in their final days, this report makes it clear that this is not the case.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·International
Nancy Flanders
·International
Nancy Flanders
·International
Bridget Sielicki
·Abortion Pill
Bridget Sielicki
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·Politics
Cassy Cooke
·Analysis
Cassy Cooke
·International
Cassy Cooke
·Opinion
Cassy Cooke
·