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Double euthanasia as former Dutch PM and his wife end their lives together

The former Dutch Prime Minister and his wife had their lives ended in a double euthanasia last week according to media reports.

Dries van Agt, Prime Minister in the Netherlands between 1977 and 1982 and the first leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, and his wife Eugenie, were both euthanised on Monday 5 February, both aged 93.

Double euthanasia remains relatively rare in the Netherlands, where euthanasia has been legal since 2002. The first cases were reported by the Regional Euthanasia Review Commitees (RTE), which revealed in its 2020 annual report that there were 13 instances of double euthanasia where both members of the couple were euthanised simultaneously (26 people in total). The number increased to 16 couples (32 people) in 2021 and 29 couples (58 people) in 2022.

There were 8,720 cases of euthanasia (and assisted suicide) in the Netherlands in 2022, accounting for 5.1% of all deaths in the Netherlands in that year. Euthanasia deaths in 2022 represent a 13.7% increase on 2021. 

Under Dutch law, there is no requirement that a person be terminally ill in order to end their life by euthanasia but they must be thought to be suffering unbearably.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “This is a terribly sad case in which an elderly couple ended their own lives with the state’s support. We do not celebrate suicide in ordinary circumstances and we should not celebrate it in this instance. Whatever stage of life we’re living through, our lives have dignity and it is not up to the state to decide that some lives are worth living and some are not”.

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.

Dear reader,

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of people like you across the UK, after a two-year battle, MPs voted by 286 to 270 to reject the Edwards assisted suicide Bill.

This followed the defeat of the McArthur assisted suicide Bill in Scotland by 69 to 57 in March this year.

Many commentators thought both Bills would become law.

If that had happened, this would have led to the deaths of many thousands of vulnerable people over the coming decades.

Because supporters like you acted, those Bills were stopped.

Because of you, many vulnerable lives have been saved.

A prominent pollster described the campaign against these major attempts to introduce assisted suicide, which brought together people from all walks of life across the UK, as one of the “most successful 21st Century UK social issue campaigns”. You helped make that possible.

WHY WE MUST NOT STOP HERE

What we have achieved together is extraordinary. But we must not rest on our laurels.

Dignity in Dying, a multi-million-pound pressure group, has made clear that it will keep campaigning to legalise assisted suicide. 

We cannot wait until another Bill is brought forward. We need to keep pressing for better care and strengthen the case against legalisation now.

WHAT COMES NEXT

The next phase of our Support Not Suicide campaign will operate across Parliament, media, online and in grassroots communities in every constituency across the United Kingdom.

Our focus now is to build on that momentum from the defeat of these assisted suicide Bills and make these victories last.

We want to build a United Kingdom where assisted suicide is seen as unnecessary – and where legalising it is seen as unthinkable.

The first part of that work is a sustained push for universal access to high-quality palliative, hospice and social care. No one should feel driven towards assisted suicide because they cannot get the care and support they need. 

We have already asked supporters to contact their MPs about improving care. With your help, we will keep that pressure on in every constituency, brief MPs and Peers on gaps in care, and make the case for better provision in the media.

The second part is building on these wins to ensure more MPs and more of the wider public understand the dangers of legalising assisted suicide. We will put evidence of those risks before MPs and Peers. We will work with mainstream journalists to bring the voices of people directly affected, doctors and other experts into the national conversation, and produce clear videos and articles that supporters can share online and in their communities.

Our network of 250,000 supporters covers every constituency in the UK. Thanks to people like you sharing our content, our posts and videos have been viewed more than 100 million times online in the last year. 

We want to utilise that massive reach for this next phase of the campaign.

WE CAN ONLY DO THIS WITH YOUR HELP

The two-year fight to stop these Bills drew heavily on our limited resources.

To replenish those resources and fund the next phase of the Support Not Suicide campaign, we aim to raise at least £199,250 by midnight this Sunday (4 October 2026).

We are, therefore, appealing to you to please give as generously as you can today.

Every donation, large or small, will make a crucial difference in protecting vulnerable lives. Plus, if you are a UK taxpayer, £1 becomes £1.25 with Gift Aid at no extra cost to you.

Will you donate now to help make these victories last and protect vulnerable lives?

Urgent appeal 
to save liveS

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Only hours left of the appeal to build on the momentum from the defeat of the assisted suicide Bill and make this victory last.