Till death do us part. Former Prime Minister of the Netherlands and his wife passed away by euthanasia: they were together for 65 years

In the Netherlands, euthanasia is increasingly being practiced - death in a quick and painless way by injecting a special substance to people who suffer from pain and do not want to endure it any longer. One of these people was the couple of former Dutch Prime Minister Dries van Agt and his wife Eugenie Krekelberg. Both were 93 years old and both had a serious illness, but they could not live without each other.

The couple died together on the same day and at the same time through "double euthanasia," which was increasingly practiced in the world and in the Netherlands, directly. The first simultaneous spousal death of this type was recorded in 2020, when 26 people were euthanized at the same time as their partners, The Guardian reports.

The former prime minister always called his wife of 65 years"my girl". Director Gerard Jonkman told NOS that both of them were very ill, but "couldn't be without each other." In 2019, van Agt suffered a brain hemorrhage while speaking at a Palestinian commemoration event. Since then, his health has deteriorated.

"Then he said that euthanasia was an option if life and suffering became unbearable. His health was becoming increasingly fragile, and he wanted to focus his attention on his wife, children and grandchildren," said the filmmaker, who often spoke with the former prime minister. He noted that Eugenie's wife's health had also deteriorated sharply.

The desire for euthanasia was carefully discussed individually with each member of the couple, and both expressed a firm conscious decision to "die hand in hand." The couple actually died at the same time, as two doctors worked on their "death procession". Dries van Agt and Eugenie Krekelberg were buried together.

The Dutch government is working to make the practice of euthanasia accessible to a wider range of people through campaigns by various human rights groups. In April 2023, parents were allowed to euthanize their terminally ill children over the age of 12.