Fulfilled living in later life
Proposed new Dutch Law allows euthanasia for healthy over 75s

Tuesday 11th August 2020

Proposed new Dutch Law allows euthanasia for healthy over 75s

Louise Morse

A proposed new law in the Netherlands would give over-75s with a ‘strong death wish for at least two months’ assisted suicide.


The bill was put forward at the end of January after government research revealed that around 10,000 people over 55 in the Netherlands have a serious death wish.

When the research was published Health Minister Hugo de Jong appealed in a parliamentary briefing that the government’s task was ‘to make every effort to ensure that these people find the meaning of life and meaning in life again.’

His argument was echoed by the Christian Legal Centre’s Roger Kiska, in a debate debated on Russia Today. He said it was important to protect the lives of the elderly, ensuring they felt no pressure to prematurely end their lives.

He stated that studies have shown that up to 98% of elderly people, “if given the proper bedside manner, if shown that they are worth something, would want to live. So as a compassionate society, we should be making people feel loved rather than feeling like a burden, so much so that they would want to be put to death.”

“Any time there is a debate about assisted suicide or euthanasia, the opponent of assisted suicide always points to the Netherlands because there it has gone from bad to worse. Dutch doctors have gone from euthanising the terminally ill to the chronically ill, to people with serious disabilities, to the emotionally and mentally ill, and now to just being elderly!’

Look at all the efforts we’ve made with Covid to keep the elderly community safe; why would we now throw that out the window and say, ‘at 75, your life is no longer worth living if you don’t want to live it.’? Let’s work with the elderly community to make them feel wanted, to make their lives better.”

It’s good to see that many older Dutch people intend to make the most of their lives. This is trailer about a group called The Story of the Old Lady Optimists.