Ex-Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dries van Agt passed away with his wife

Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dries van Agt died together with his wife Eugenia. This happened on February 5, but information about their death appeared only now. The spouses, who were seriously ill recently, resorted to euthanasia, which is legal in the Netherlands. Both were 93 years old.

In the 1970s, Van Agt headed the “Christian Democratic Appeal” party, and from 1977 to 1982 he was the country’s prime minister. Later, he was the commissioner of the province of Northern Brabant, the representative of the European Union in Japan and the USA.

In 2019, van Agt suffered a stroke, after which his health did not fully recover. His wife, Eugenia, has also been seriously ill in recent years. The spouses decided to end their suffering and leave life hand in hand. They lived together for 70 years.

• Euthanasia – the procedure of voluntary painless withdrawal from life of seriously ill people – was legalized in the Netherlands in 2002. It is also legal in Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Colombia, Canada, several states of the USA and Australia, and in New Zealand. In Spain and Portugal, the relevant laws have been approved, but are awaiting final adoption. Mandatory conditions for euthanasia are the presence of an incurable disease causing the patient great suffering, and his urgent desire to end it.
• As The Guardian explains, about a thousand people resort to euthanasia in the Netherlands every year. Of them, in 2020 there were 13 married couples who decided to end their lives together, and in 2022 – 29.