Former Dutch PM and wife die hand in hand in duo-euthanasia

Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg died, on February 5, in unison by legal duo-euthanasia. The couple of seven decades chose to leave this life the same way they had started it- hand in hand and together! They were both 93.

"In consultation with the immediate family, we announce that our founder and honorary chairman Dries van Agt passed away on Monday, February 5, in his hometown of Nijmegen. He died together and hand in hand with his beloved wife Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg, the support and support with whom he was together for more than seventy years, and whom he always continued to refer to as 'my girl'. The funeral took place privately. Van Agt and his wife were both 93 years old," The Rights Forum, a human rights organization founded by the former PM said in a statement.

The couple was suffering from weak health, reports have said. Dries van Agt suffered from brain haemorrhage in 2019 and could not recover after that. Van Agt and his wife were very ill, but “couldn’t live without each other,” the Rights Forum director Gerad Jonkman the media.

What is duo euthanasia?

Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands. It gives an individual the right to choose death. A total of 8720 people died of euthanasia in the Netherlands in 2020. At least 29 couples died together in 2022, in 2020 13 couples had opted for it. The Netherlands has been allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia since 2002. The request is granted after individuals request the termination of their life with a sign-off from a doctor that they are going through "unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement."

Nations such as most of the United States, Australia, and many Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea, uphold strict laws against euthanasia. In these regions, ethical, moral, and religious considerations heavily influence legal frameworks surrounding end-of-life decisions. Despite ongoing debates and advocacy for euthanasia legalization, legal barriers persist, limiting individuals' autonomy over their own deaths and often leading to prolonged suffering for terminally ill patients and their families.

In India, passive euthanasia was made legal in 2018. Passive euthanasia is when the medical treatment is withheld to allow the person to die. This is different from active euthanasia, in which lethal injection is administered usually to end a person's life.