Euthanasia rates rise by 10% in the Netherlands

Deaths by euthanasia increased 10% in the Netherlands in 2016, according to a new report published by the country’s Regional Euthanasia Review Committees (RTE). The report states that in 2016, 6091 patients were euthanised, up from 5516 in 2015. Most of the cases of euthanasia involved people with cancer, serious heart or lung problems or

Dutch will probably legalise assisted dying for people tired of living

The Dutch government plans to create a new end-of-life law for elderly people who are tired of living. Health Minister Edith Schippers told Parliament that a new kind of assisted suicide is needed for people who are not terminally ill or suffering, but who want to die (link to letter to Parliament, in Dutch). She

Dutch Court Clears Man Who Helped His 99-Year-Old Mother Die

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch appeals court on Wednesday cleared a man of any criminal responsibility for helping his 99-year-old mother take her own life — a case that aimed to create precedents for assisting suicide in a country where euthanasia already is legal under certain circumstances. Judges in the city of Arnhem said