Who was Dries van Agt? Former Netherlands Prime Minister Dead at 93

Dries van Agt, a Catholic former Dutch prime minister, has passed away through euthanasia, alongside his wife Eugenie, both aged 93.

Their joint decision to end their lives together last Monday is indicative of a growing phenomenon in the Netherlands known as “duo euthanasia.”

While still relatively uncommon, the practice of euthanizing couples garnered attention in 2020 when 26 individuals were granted euthanasia concurrently with their partners. This figure increased to 32 the following year and surged to 58 cases in 2022.

Despite his Catholic background, Van Agt, who served as prime minister from 1977 to 1982 and was the founding leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal party, was known for forging his own path, often alongside his wife of 70 years, whom he affectionately referred to as “my girl.”

The Rights Forum, an organization championing Palestinian rights that Van Agt established in his later, more progressive years, announced the couple’s joint passing “together and hand in hand” last week. According to Director Gerard Jonkman, both were grappling with severe illness, and their bond was such that they could not contemplate parting from each other. Van Agt had been struggling since a brain hemorrhage in 2019.

Elke Swart, spokesperson for the Expertisecentrum Euthanasie, which facilitates euthanasia requests for approximately 1,000 individuals annually in the Netherlands, emphasized that each couple’s request for assisted death is evaluated individually against stringent criteria.

“While interest in this practice is increasing, it remains rare,” Swart noted. “It is coincidental that two individuals are enduring unbearable suffering simultaneously, with no hope of relief, and that they both desire euthanasia.”

Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legalized in the Netherlands since 2002 under specific conditions, including enduring intolerable suffering, absence of relief prospects, and a longstanding, autonomous wish for death. A second specialist must corroborate the request, and in most instances, the procedure is carried out by the family doctor in the home setting.

Although couples constitute a small fraction of euthanasia cases—8,720 instances, accounting for 5.1% of all Dutch deaths in 2022—Fransien van ter Beek, chair of the pro-euthanasia NVVE foundation, acknowledged that many individuals express this desire. She added, “However, it occurs infrequently because it is not an uncomplicated path.”