Most political parties pay little attention to the self-chosen end of life during the campaign and in their party programs, interest groups note.

Everyone dies and most Dutch people want to decide for themselves how their own death will pass. Several people prove that they want more control over the end of life than they currently have polls and to research of recent years.

But recent party programs and during the election campaign show that helping people with this widely supported wish is not a priority for politicians at the moment. This is the opinion of organizations that are concerned with self-determination around death, such as the Dutch Association for a Voluntary End of Life (NVVE, 177,000 members), Coöperatie Laatste Wil (CLW, 30,000 members) and the Levenseinderegie foundation. Most political parties pay little attention to the self-chosen end of life during the campaign and in their latest party programs, they note. “Politicians are extremely passive in this area,” says Wim van Dijk, chairman of the Levenseinderegie foundation and closely involved with CLW.

The Netherlands has had a euthanasia law since 2002, which allows doctors to help a patient die – but only if, in the doctor’s opinion, the patient’s suffering is hopeless and unbearable and if there is a medical basis for this. Nothing is organized for (old) people who are exhausted and have a death wish. There is a need for this and that is a task for politicians, according to Fransien van ter Beek, chairman of the NVVE. “People still fall through the cracks,” she says. “These are people who suffer from life and not from a medical illness. Nothing has been arranged for them.” According to Van ter Beek, at the NVVE they speak every day to people who feel that death has “forgotten” them. “They believe that there should be more self-determination around death. But politics is lagging behind reality.”

We must realize: euthanasia is not a quiet possession. Just look at abortion, which is also coming under increasing pressure.

Don’t burden loved ones

The ‘forgotten’ people would like a quick and humane death, with help. Van ter Beek: “Suicide is not prohibited, but if you come to the conclusion that death is better than life, you are still dependent on other methods such as stopping eating and drinking. We see that people choose this, while they would rather want euthanasia but not receive it. That demands a lot from the person who wants to die and the environment.” In desperation, people also choose “other gruesome ways.” People sometimes do it on their own because they don’t want to burden loved ones, says Van ter Beek.

The dialogue about the end of life is closed, according to advisor Wim van Dijk of Coöperatie Laatste Wil. “D66 has been working on the completed life law since 2012, but that has become like flogging a dead horse.” That law, which still needs to be voted on, should supplement the euthanasia law. The most important difference is that someone does not have to suffer unbearably and without hope to receive euthanasia. The law is intended for the elderly; The bill sets an age limit of at least 75 years.

Wim van Dijk considers this bill “a dragon”, partly because the person with a death wish cannot decide for himself whether his life is completed.

Protecting euthanasia

During the day the End of Life election debate last Wednesday in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, organized by the NVVE, among others, it appears that most parties mainly want to hold on to what is there. “We must cherish and protect euthanasia. We must not take any steps back,” said Member of Parliament Harry Bevers of the VVD, for example.

This attitude worries Fransien van ter Beek of the NVVE. She wants to move forward. “We must realize: euthanasia is not a quiet possession. Just look at abortion, which is also coming under increasing pressure. The worst that can happen is that the current possibilities are limited. For example, by setting an age limit, as recently was about to happen in euthanasia due to suffering from a mental illness.” NSC then served a initiative note in which the party asked for a critical reflection on the practice and a (temporary) suspension of euthanasia in the case of psychological suffering for people under the age of thirty.

D66, together with Volt, has submitted a private member’s bill to remove euthanasia from the Criminal Code: physician-assisted suicide is now only allowed if it is provided under strict conditions, and that makes doctors feel as if the “sword of Damocles” is hanging over their heads, Wieke Paulusma, D66 spokesperson for healthcare during the end-of-life debate in Pakhuis de Zwijger. Euthanasia does not belong in criminal law, she believes. “Since the law was introduced, a doctor has only been prosecuted once.” Euthanasia has been granted more than a hundred thousand times.

Wim van Dijk has analyzed the party programs and he concludes that in fact only “the SGP and the Christian Union are against the current euthanasia law.” If they do not govern, he hopes for an “unexpected breath of fresh air that will blow.” “And if not, we older people will glue ourselves to the door of the House of Representatives.”

In the meantime, Van Dijk himself has been working on his own, which assumes that people themselves determine that they are suffering unbearably and without hope. The proposal has now collected 68,000 signatures – far more than the amount required for consideration in the House of Representatives. When he has 100,000 signatures, he will present it in the House of Representatives. “We have relatively little to expect from politics. That is why we must increase social pressure.”

Give a gift





Part





Email the editor