D66 adjusts "completed life" bill for longer guidance before assisted suicide

People aged 75 and older who feel that their life is complete and therefore want to end it with help at a time of their choosing should be given that option, but only after they complete a process with an “end-of-life counselor” for at least six months. That is what the D66 proposes, amending its previous initiative bill “completed life” on this point. Another new feature is that a doctor must be involved in the process and must inform the counselor about the medical situation of the person concerned.

D66 parliamentarian Anne-Marijke Podt will submit the bill to parliament on Tuesday. In 2020, her now-departed colleague Pia Dijkstra made the first proposal to allow assisted suicide at the end of a completed life. That immediately sparked a lot of social debate, as well as irritation in the coalition at the time. The Christian parties in the coalition, ChristenUnie and CDA, strongly oppose the active termination of life because they believe that it should be in God’s hands, not man’s.

Podt made the changes after the Council of State criticized the proposal. The party is creating a new profession with the end-of-life counselor. This person will have a pivotal role in the process: the counselor will assess whether the wish and request to die “has a well-considered, voluntary, and sustainable character.” The counselor will have at least three conversations with the person involved within six months and can always expand the process if necessary. Initially, the D66 considered a process of at least two months and two conversations.

Nine due care requirements must be met throughout the process. The counselor is also involved in the assisted suicide in the new bill. The counselor collects the medicines from the pharmacy, after which the person concerned takes the medicines themselves. The difference with the euthanasia law is that the euthanasia law also allows for a doctor to administer a lethal drug to the patient, for example, if the patient is no longer able to do so themselves.

The D66 parliamentarian believes that “living with dignity also includes being able to die with dignity and on one’s own terms.” Because the subject is a sensitive and triggering one, she spoke with many people - doctors, experts, elderly people, and also outspoken supporters and opponents. Podt hopes that “we can continue to have the debate on this issue with respect and dignity.”

There is a good chance that Podt will be able to defend her initiative bill in both the current and the new Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. She is fourth on the D66 list of candidates in the coming elections, and the social liberals are hovering around seven seats in the polls.