Dries van Agt, a former Dutch prime minister, and his wife Eugenie, both aged 93, chose euthanasia, dying together. Their deaths on the previous Monday are seen as part of an increasing trend in the Netherlands known as “duo euthanasia”.
While still uncommon, the phenomenon of couples choosing euthanasia was first observed in a review of all cases in 2020, when 26 individuals were granted euthanasia simultaneously with their partners. The numbers increased to 32 in the subsequent year and 58 in 2022.
Van Agt, who served as prime minister from 1977 to 1982 and was the inaugural leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, was known for choosing his path, despite his Catholic faith. He shared This trait with his wife of 70 years, whom he affectionately referred to as “my girl”.
The Rights Forum, a pro-Palestinian group that Van Agt established in his later, more progressive years, announced their deaths “together and hand in hand” last week. Director Gerard Jonkman told broadcaster NOS that both were severely ill but “couldn’t go without one another”. Van Agt had never fully recovered from a brain haemorrhage in 2019.
Strict Requirements for Assisted Death
Elke Swart, spokesperson for the Expertisecentrum Euthanasie, which fulfils the euthanasia wish of about 1,000 individuals a year in the Netherlands, stated that any couple’s requests for assisted death are evaluated against stringent requirements individually rather than collectively.
Legal Framework for Euthanasia
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legal in the Netherlands since 2002 for six conditions, including unbearable suffering, no prospect of relief, and a long-held, independent wish for death. A second specialist must confirm the wish, and most cases are carried out by the family doctor at home.
Although couples represent a small percentage of the deaths by euthanasia – 8,720 cases, or 5.1% of all Dutch deaths in 2022 – Fransien van ter Beek, who chairs the NVVE pro-euthanasia foundation, said that many people express this wish. She added: “But it does not happen often because it is not an easy path.”
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