Former Dutch PM dies hand-in-hand with wife as couple opts for euthanasia

Dries van Agt, the former Dutch prime minister died earlier this month hand-in-hand with his wife, as the couple opted for euthanasia. 

"In consultation with the immediate family, we announce that our founder and honorary chairman Dries van Agt passed away on Monday, February 5, in his hometown of Nijmegen," announced The Rights Forum in their press note. 

The press note revealed that both Van Agt and his wife had been experiencing deteriorating health. 

"He died together hand-in-hand with his beloved wife Eugenie van Agt-Krekelberg...with whom he was together for more than seventy years, and whom he always continued to refer to as 'my girl'," it added.

Though the 93-year-old couple was very ill, they “couldn’t go without one another” Director Gerard Jonkman told the broadcaster NOS. 

In the year 2019, Van Agt suffered a brain hemorrhage, from which he never fully recovered, a report in the Guardian said. 

The demise of the couple comes at a time when the trend of "duo euthanasia" is growing in the Netherlands, where death by the said procedure has been legal since 2002.

While 26 people were granted euthanasia at the same time in 2020, the number increased to 32 in 2021 and 58 in 2022 showing a significant growth in demand, the publication noted. 

“Interest in this is growing, but it is still rare...It is pure chance that two people are suffering unbearably with no prospect of relief at the same time … and that they both wish for euthanasia,” Elke Swart, spokesperson for the Expertisecentrum Euthanasie told the Guardian. 

Notably, the Catholic former Dutch prime minister, Van Agt held office between 1977 and 1982.