UNTIL THE END

Former Dutch PM Chooses to Die Alongside Wife in Dual Euthanasia

An associate said the couple “couldn’t go without one another.”

Former Dutch prime minister Dries van Agt couldn’t live without his wife. He couldn’t die without her, either. Van Agt and his spouse of 70 years, Eugenie, died holding hands together through joint euthanasia on Monday, according to a pro-Palestinian rights group that van Agt established. Its director, Gerard Jonkman, told the Dutch broadcasting network NOS that although both the former politician and his wife were very ill, they “couldn’t go without one another.” Dries and Eugenie van Agt were part of a small but growing group of Dutch couples who opt into euthanasia together, which has been legal in the country since 2002. The decision must be granted by another specialist before it can go through, and couples who wish for joint euthanasia are evaluated individually by strict standards, one specialist told The Guardian. Van Agt was a lifelong Catholic who led the Netherlands from 1977 to 1982. He and his wife were both 93 years old.