Dutch euthanasia requests reach record high
A registration form for a euthanasia request. photo ANP, Lex van Lieshout
Western Europe
Never before have so many people in the Netherlands opted for active euthanasia as in 2020. This conclusion emerges from the annual report of the Regional Euthanasia Review Committee.
The panel examines whether an application for active euthanasia can be approved or denied. According to the report, 6,938 people died at their request.
This number is an increase of 9.1 per cent compared to the previous year. The number corresponds to 4.1 per cent of all deaths in the Netherlands in 2020.
The majority of those willing to die was over 60 years old (87.6 per cent) and had terminal cancer (4,480). As in previous years, around two per cent of the applicants suffered from dementia and a little more than one per cent from psychiatric disorders.
Solution
Jeroen Recourt, chairman of the committee, told the Dutch daily Trouw that the increase does not surprise him. “The numbers are part of a larger development: more and more people see euthanasia as a solution to unbearable suffering”, says Recourt.
Dutch law permits euthanasia since 2002 for people from the age of twelve who have been diagnosed with unbearable suffering, with no prospect of recovery.
