Current Events > Former Dutch Prime Minister and his wife get euthanized together

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Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt died by euthanasia hand in hand with his wife, Eugenie, on Feb. 5.

He and his wife, Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg, were both 93 and had been married since 1958. Their deaths were part of an increase in couples choosing duo euthanasia in the Netherlands.

He died hand in hand with his beloved wife Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg, the support and anchor with whom he was together for more than 70 years and whom he always continued to refer to as my girl, the Rights Forum, which was founded by van Agt, said in a Dutch statement, as translated by The Associated Press.

Holy shit.

Can't have that in America though because Jesus.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-dutch-prime-minister-and-wife-die-together-at-93_n_65cbc456e4b01f4a8b02b906

Do you believe there is 0 , other reason for this in the u.s.? Entirely about religion....etc .. in your opinion?

America can't even execute prisoners correctly half the time, what makes you think someone here would voluntarily choose that over uhm... less accepted methods?

There's probably a person or two who opposes it for some other reason.

I'm against this 100%

In America we allow pets to have merciful ends, but humans have to linger until we die naturally, even if it's a miserable final years. All because of religion

Stan Lee is one person who could habe benefited from a change in laws. He said he wanted to die at least a year or more before he finally did. He was in complete suffering by the end

Why?

Is all of that stuff completely based on religion though? You ever met someone who thought that that was not religious?

Why?

Can't have that in America though because Jesus.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/former-dutch-prime-minister-and-wife-die-together-at-93_n_65cbc456e4b01f4a8b02b906

I think death should be natural. People killing themselves makes me physically sick. Not because I'm demeaning them, but suicide is really fucked up as a concept.

Yes part of it is because of personal experiences, people should also live their lives out to their natural end. Once that line is crossed, who knows when that line will be pushed further and further towards situations where its just convenient? Such as debt issues or relationship problems. Maybe one day a person is suicidal and instead of calling a hotline, they just decide to euthanize?

Companies also drive people to depression. "Oh you can't pay your rent? Barely any salary? Your wife/husband left you and have no way to pay off your mortgage? Have you considered killing yourself? We'll take that house off you when you're done". It could lead to all these different lines being crossed.

Again, half of this is an emotional argument (because of personal reasons) and half of this is my rational mind thinking about how the line could be crossed more easily as we move on as a society.

This is obviously not counting situations where a person is physically unable to live. Like if they're on life support or their body is in such a state that living is a burden on them. Those situations are exceptions >_>

Also, who would make the decisions for when something is an exception to your rules. You?

Define "natural" in terms of death.

they were 93, being alive at all at that age has a very high chance to be a burden.

Your entire argument boils down to a slippery slope fallacy.

No of course not, this is entirely my opinion. I don't have the answers to it all and I could very well be wrong. Which is why I started my post with "I think". The people who decide when someone should be euthanized should obviously be the ones that are medical professors or experts.

Do you think that medical experts were not involved in the decision in this case? Because they were.

That's kind of my point with the slippery slope thing - do you really think the countries that allow for euthanasia don't already have caveats and hoops to jump through first or do you think they're just allowing anyone to do it?

No I haven't. The main reason I've ever seen is the Bible says not to kill yourself. Even if a few people have non religious reasons, those people are not the ones who made the law. The people who made the law are all religiously motivated

Based on the article, the couple killed themselves because they were simply old. Unless I'm missing some information?

Van Agt had a brain hemorrhage in 2019 that he never fully recovered from.

What about his wife?

No of course not, this is entirely my opinion. I don't have the answers to it all and I could very well be wrong. Which is why I started my post with "I think". The people who decide when someone should be euthanized should obviously be the ones that are medical professors or experts.

Sure, when the body dies by itself.

Yes, of course. But we have burdens at every stage of our lives. Backpains, migraines, outright depression, limb dismemberment ect ect.

When I say burden, I mean no chance in living a normal life at all. Not being able to walk or breathe normally. Being in extreme pain at every second of your life.

You could equate that to being old, I'm sure. But I'm also sure that not every old person is in pain to the point of them wishing to be dead.

I don't know how to feel about that tbh. I'm 100% on the side of supporting it in case of terminal disease and the like. But I'm conflicted about the concept of "I don't know how I can live without that person, let's just end things". On the other hand, they were 93...

So it is illegal in every u s. State right? with harsh punishments?

Guess it doesn't matter how others feel

Or, it shouldn't. Either we have bodily autonomy or we don't

For what it's worth, Dutch laws don't allow euthanasia on a whim or for minor discomforts. The criteria include: it has to be voluntary and well thought-out, patient has to be in a state of unbearable suffering with no hope for improvement.