Former Dutch PM And Wife Die "Together Hand In Hand" Via Duo Euthanasia

Former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie passed away by legal euthanasia while holding hands.

Both 93, the couple died in Nijmegen, the town where van Agt, who served as prime minister from 1977 to 1982 and led the Christian Democratic Appeal party, was from.

Their declining health led them to choose euthanasia together, as announced by The Rights Forum, which van Agt established.

A press statement revealed that van Agt, who experienced a brain hemorrhage in 2019, and his wife, his partner for over seventy years affectionately known as 'my girl', were both severely ill and chose euthanasia, a growing practice in the Netherlands known as "duo euthanasia".

In 2022, 29 couples opted for assisted suicide in the Netherlands, marking an increase from previous years. Despite this trend, the process involves rigorous individual assessments to meet the country's strict criteria for euthanasia, legal since 2002 for cases of insufferable and incurable conditions with a persistent desire for death.