The wife of Wim van Dijk (81) died ‘painfully’. She had Alzheimer’s and broke her hip; That eventually became fatal to her. “I have been four and a half hours next to her and saw her suffer.” Then Van Dijk became ‘furious’. “Why for God’s sake had to be like that?” He became a member of Coöperatie Last Wil (CLW), who has about thirty thousand paying members and deals with self -determination about dying. Van Dijk is now an advisor to the organization.
The member base and board of CLW mainly consists of vital sixties and seventies who want certainty about their death. Their end must be softer than the difficult deaths of loved ones that they have already experienced in their long life.
For Frans Copini (72), chairman of CLW, the death of his wife, five years ago, of pancreatic cancer, was a reason to delve into dying. “It went very fast with my wife and she did not suffer. That is nice. We had a doctor who had already promised that he would grant euthanasia if my wife wanted it, but that was no longer necessary.” It was a “beautiful death,” says Copini. “That made me realize what the dying should look like, but I know that not everyone has been a ‘Hollywood-Dood’.”
In Copini’s modern flex office in Rotterdam, overlooking the Maas, the CLW people talk about their trial against the state, which will continue on Monday. Together with co-requirements, CLW challenged the State in 2021 to enforce that the Dutch can put an end to their lives in a human way. The claimants want the criminalization of assistance with suicide to expire, so that people can also be helped by others than doctors. Previous things were successful in Germany and Austria. But in the Netherlands, the judge at first instance decided at the disadvantage of CLW and the co-requirements; That is why they appealed. The ruling can take months after the hearing. “It is not a run,” says Frans Copini. “We might win.”
Wim van Dijk hands out Flyers in a demonstration for the right to a self -chosen end of life.
Photo Dieuwertje Bravenboer
Why do you think so?
“In the first instance, the judge said a few interesting things. He said that self -determination about one’s own death is an important right, a human right.”
And he also said that the euthanasia law that we now have is sufficient.
Copini: “That is the misery. The judge has interpreted that the WTL, the Life Termination Teaching Act on request and assistance with suicide, is a ‘legitimate restriction’ of the right of self -determination. He says that there is an honest balance between the law between the right to self -decision and on the other hand.
“According to the law, the doctor must now determine whether the situation of an applicant is hopeless and unbearable, but those are subjective concepts about the perception of the patient. Only the patient can decide whether his situation is unbearable and hopeless, we think.”
Van Dijk: “In a number of cases, the current law works great. I have seen that myself. Ten thousand people a year get euthanasia. But we are concerned with the requests that are not granted. There are many more than ten thousand. And that means that people have to suffer longer than they actually want.” We have to prevent that. “
Flyers about the right to a self -chosen end of life.
Photo Dieuwertje Bravenboer
Copini: “Our point of view is: if someone is competent, completely in his positives and not under guardianship, then he must be able to have it himself. The authority to decide whether you can die now lies with someone else. And that is also the case with the completed life law that D66 has developed.”
That law, which still needs to be voted on, should be a supplement to the euthanasia law. The most important difference is that someone does not have to suffer unbearably and hopeless to get euthanasia. The law is intended for the elderly; in the bill is an age limit of at least 75 years. If the Completed Life Act is introduced, special life -end counselors would be trained to check in multiple conversations whether the wish is ‘voluntary, well -considered and sustainable’. The decision is ultimately “jointly” taken with the supervisor. This means that autonomy also does not entirely come to the person who wants to die according to this law.
You have developed an alternative law yourself that will soon be discussed in the Lower House, because you pick up forty thousand signatures.
Van Dijk: “My Levelseinderegie bill assumes that people themselves determine that they suffer unbearably and hopeless. Certified life -end counselors check whether the applicant does think so, is well informed about treatment options and does not see a reasonable solution other than euthanasia. To prevent impulsive acting, life supervisors also discuss this law whether the wish is voluntary, well -considered and sustainable. ”
Since its foundation in 2017, cooperative last will had the main goal on the market that people can die quietly at a self -chosen moment. The organization found ‘Middel X’, a drug that is used in laboratories and is fatal when taking. Some members of CLW started to buy the drug well and to provide others. That was contrary to the law, the Public Prosecution Service thought, and several members of the organization have been prosecuted in recent years.
Read also
Members of CLW in court
The previous board was mainly concerned with means X and marketing a legal ‘last will’. Have you abandoned this course -oriented course?
Copini: “My predecessors have been especially in the news with means X. Our plan is indeed to put the subject firmly on the political agenda. The signatures are a good start. And if the judge in the trial against the State takes a step forward, we emphasize that our message. Next year we also want to organize a civil consultation. We want to spend the end of the Dutch population and how to be the representative of their ending for their ending. Do they find a good end of the life and the vast majority of them are hoping.
For a long time, members of CLW were a kind of ‘resistance hero atmosphere’, the earlier lawsuits about Middel X. It was found that the medicine had to be available at all costs and not everyone took the law for a moment. Wim van Dijk was also convicted after the provision of Middel X. What do the members think of this new course?
Copini: “It seems that they can agree in our plans, we have also asked them for that. We still think that means X is a good alternative for some people, even though it is not always a relaxed way of dying. In addition, we are also working on the Sarco developed by Philip Nitschke to the Netherlands.
Read also
CLW argues for suicide capsule Sarco
“We would prefer to open a ‘last will-house’ where we offer a menu: you can die this way. The Sarco is therefore on that menu. We see a room for us who we can dress up to the wishes of the person who wants to die. Maybe people listen to hard rock or wear VR glasses while they are hopping deer. That seems like a nice way to me.”
What would the Public Prosecution Service think?
“We have contacted the Sarco contact with the OM, because we would like to consult in consultation. Where does criminal help with suicide and where does it end? But the OM cannot let us know in advance what is and is not punishable. When it is about help with suicide, you often know if you have tried it.”
NEW: Give this article as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can do every month 10 articles Give a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a payment wall.