What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Netherlands? Tulip? Windmill? Or wooden shoes?
But what many people don't know is that Netherlands is the first country in the world to allow applications for euthanasia.
As early as April 1, 2002, Netherlands announced the legalization of euthanasia, which caused a lot of concern at the time.
Of course, although euthanasia is legal, it is still difficult to apply.
First of all, there is an age limit, children under the age of 12 are not allowed to be euthanized, and those over the age of 12 and under the age of 16 also need parental consent.
The second is that they must be seriously ill, in great pain, and incurable.
In this way, even in a country like Netherlands where euthanasia is legalized, if you want to report to the prefecture... No, Netherlands should report to heaven, it's really not so easy.
Earlier this year, former Netherlands Prime Minister Driss and his wife Eugenie underwent euthanasia together, causing a lot of heated discussions.
Putting aside the discussion of humanity and the rule of law, the couple really fulfilled their promise of "staying together for a lifetime", and even went hand in hand to die.
More people paid tribute to the couple's actions and were also touched by their love.
As this netizen said, it is one of the fortunate things to be able to find someone who truly loves each other in this life.
It is a blessing to be able to be with the people you love and live together to the age of 93.
In the end, it is the third fortunate thing to face death hand in hand with the person you love.
If you look at it this way, euthanasia is really "reassuring" and "happy" for the couple.
Driss and Eugenie met at the end of the year, when he was not yet prime minister, but a recent college graduate.
In 1958, the two who had known each other for a short time chose to enter the palace of marriage, and this step was a lifetime.
In 1977, Driss became prime minister of the Netherlands and finally retired from politics in 1982 for the simple reason that he had little interest in politics.
If you have to talk about the love of Dris's life, in addition to riding a bicycle, it is his wife Eugenie.
He has called Eugenie "my girl" in public more than once, which is enough to see that he is very affectionate.
Time came to 2019, and Driss was 88 years old at this time.
After a speech, he suffered a stroke, and not only did his language ability gradually deteriorate, but his physical condition also deteriorated step by step.
At the same time, Eugenie, who is also in her nineties, is not in good health, and several diseases afflict her body.
In fact, both of them are nearly 90 years old, and at this age, physical problems seem inevitable.
With this illness, the couple began to seriously consider the issue of death.
The two have been together for more than 60 years, and it can be said that they have seen each other as a part of their lives, and if one of them is gone, what will happen to the other?
When they seriously discussed this issue, they realized that if death was two people walking hand in hand, it would not seem so terrifying.
After deciding that they wanted to die together, they applied for euthanasia together.
It is worth mentioning that whether it is Catholicism or Netherlands Christianity, euthanasia is against the doctrine.
Driss was born into a Catholic family and served as the leader of the Christian Democratic Party in Netherlands, and in every way, euthanasia was a blasphemy against his faith.
But for the sake of his wife, Driss also plans to "rebel" once, and this is the last time in this life anyway.
In the end, their application was approved at the beginning of this year, and euthanasia was executed in February this year, and the immortal companion who had been with each other for nearly 70 years has finally become an immortal, believing that God knows in heaven and will not blame this devout believer.
Because the review of euthanasia is extremely strict, even in the first Netherlands to open euthanasia, about 1,000 people receive euthanasia every year. And this kind of "legal martyrdom" between husband and wife is even rarer, after all, both of them are terminally ill at the same time, and both of them want to die at the same time, the probability of this kind of thing is still too low.
Therefore, after the news of Dries and Eugenie was reported, many people were still shocked, and after the shock, it tended to be flat, the love between the two for decades, the whole country saw it, and now they chose to die together, as if it was an unexpected and reasonable decision. And after that, their love will also be sung among the people and will endure for a long time.
The legalization of euthanasia has always been a major issue involving the rule of law, humanity and ethics.
There has never been a standard answer to whether it is "better to die than to live" or "to die with dignity".
There are indeed cases like Driss and Eugenie that are touching and enviable. However, it is undeniable that there are also many applications for euthanasia that are not the original wishes of the patients, but are "forced to voluntarily" under the "soft threat" of external factors and even family members.
It is precisely because of this that there are very few countries that allow euthanasia, and even those that allow euthanasia have strict scrutiny of this matter.
I don't know what everyone thinks of the legalization of euthanasia in Netherlands after reading today's story?
The author of this article | First
Editor-in-Charge | Faint emerald
Curated | Small