DutchNews, December 19, 2016
D66 MP Pia Dijkstra has proposed a change in the law. |
Assisted suicide could be extended to anyone
over the age of 75 who no longer wants to live, even if they are not ill, under
a bill brought forward by D66 MP Pia Dijkstra.
The bill would make it legal to
arrange the death of anyone with an ‘intrinsic and consistent’ wish to die. The
request would be granted and carried by a registered end-of-life practitioner,
which could be a doctor, nurse or psychologist, and they will have to seek a
second opinion before deciding.
A number of safeguards are included in the
proposed legislation. The wish to die must be confirmed in a second interview
after the original request, with a gap of at least two months in between. The
case will also be reviewed by an independent commission, as happens currently
with euthanasia.
At the moment euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands only for
patients who are experiencing unbearable suffering with no prospect of
improvement. Cancer patients account for around 70% of euthanasia deaths, but
the total number has increased by 70% in the last five years.
Dijkstra told Nieuwsuur: ‘There are plenty of examples of people who say, “I’ve had enough of
life, I have children and grandchildren, they’re all doing well, but I’m
detached, I don’t play a role in their lives any more. The only thing waiting
for me is decline and I don’t want to go through that.”’
Dijkstra said the
conditions were designed to ensure that assisted suicide would only be granted
to people who made the request ‘of their own free will, properly considered and
without pressure from outside’ and who were mentally fit to make the decision.
The bill will be placed online so people can comment and respond before it is
put before Parliament, which will not happen until after the general election
next March, Dijkstra said.
Health minister Edith Schippers told Parliament in
October that the government was looking to legalise assisted suicide for
elderly people who were ‘suffering from life’, but did not bring forward any
firm proposals.
At the time her plan was criticised by opposition politicians
who said the government should be concentrating on improving the quality of
life for the elderly.
Gert-Jan Segers, leader of the ChristenUnie party, said:
‘In what kind of society do we want to live? What’s the answer to loneliness? I
can’t accept that it’s giving someone a pill.’
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