Zoraya ter Bee, who lives in the Netherlands, has been approved for euthanasia after the psychiatrist treating her depression told her that “there’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better.”
Her death, approved by the state, will take place in ter Bee’s home in May, when a doctor will administer a sedative followed by a drug that will stop her heart.
Tee Bee, who is also reported to have autism and a borderline personality disorder, says she wants to be cremated after her death because she doesn’t want to “burden” her boyfriend “with having to keep the grave tidy”.
Euthanasia, which was legalised in the Netherlands in 2001, accounted for 5% of all deaths in the nation in 2022, when there were nearly 9,000 such cases.
Euthanasia is permitted in the Netherlands when a patient is said to experience unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement. Last year, the law was extended to allow children aged between 1 and 12 to be killed by a doctor, as reported by SPUC.
SPUC comment
A SPUC spokesperson said: “This horrific case shows just where euthanasia and assisted suicide will lead: a society all too ready to usher ‘problem’ people into early graves. This is not compassion but a cold utilitarianism that promotes death as the easy and cost-efficient solution to the challenges of life.
“At a time when both England and Scotland are considered assisted suicide legislation, it is vital that the public is made aware of the mortal threat that such laws pose to vulnerable people. The only true safeguard against it is not to legalise it in the first place.
“The ‘slippery slope’ is real. Ter Bee and others should not be burdened with the so-called choice of euthanasia, which can very soon seem like the only way out. It is not.”
