The Dutch Council of State has rejected a draft “death wish” assisted suicide bill that seeks to extend existing legislation to over-75s who are “tired of life”.

The “Completed Life” bill in the Netherlands wants to expand assisted suicide legislation to elderly citizens who are not currently considered ill enough to request such an extreme measure.

The Council of State, the highest-ranking advisory body in the Netherlands, previously released a report on the bill, explaining that the “government has a duty to protect its citizens against involuntary, hasty or ill-informed decisions about ending their lives and to prevent abuse”.

The report affirmed the importance of considering the many “complex problems” that lead to an “active death wish without being seriously ill”, including “financial concerns, illness, loneliness, dependence on others and the feeling that they are a burden to others”.

“In some cases the wish for death diminishes or disappears over time”, the report added. The bill had suggested a two-month reflection period before going through with the assisted suicide request.

In the end, the Council concluded that the bill did not sufficiently safeguard over-75s. “It should not be considered unless it has been amended.” However, the Council’s recommendation is non-binding.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “Assisted suicide endangers the lives of vulnerable people, especially the elderly, who increasingly feel they are a burden to society and feel pressured into a premature death.

“In 2020, 53% of people killed by assisted suicide in the US state of Oregon said that they feared “being a burden on family, friends/caregivers” if they continued to live. In Scotland, too, 36% of over-50s recently reported they were seen as a “burden” by others, as reported by SPUC.

“Rather than facilitating this sense of burden, society should be doing its utmost to offer compassion and care to the vulnerable, not usher them to their deaths.”

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