A 28-year-old Dutch woman claims to have made a request which was accepted by doctors in the Netherlands. Zoraya ter Beek is one of around thirty young people under the age of 30 who are now requesting death via the euthanasia procedure.
The first country to legalize euthanasia in 2002, the Netherlands recorded 20 years later, in 2022, 8,720 euthanasias, which represents approximately 5.1% of the total number of deaths in the country. In April 2023, euthanasia for children who endure intolerable and incurable suffering, demanded by Dutch pediatricians, will be possible. In detail for 115 people aged under 30 or suffering from “psychiatric disorders” under the country’s euthanasia law. The vast majority of euthanasia carried out, however, is for patients suffering from terminal cancer (57.8%). In April 23, the government announced that this measure would be possible in thecountry, which specified that five to ten children per year would be eligible for euthanasia.