Facing Mental Health Challenges, Dutch Woman To End Life

A 28-year-old Dutch woman has decided to end her life, taking advantage of a law that has legalised euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. A report in the New York Post said Zoraya Ter Beek has faced mental health challenges for many years and doctors had told her nothing more could be done to improve her condition.

That being the case, Zoraya decided to end her own life. “I was always very clear that if it doesn’t get better, I can’t do this any more,” she was quoted by the New York Post as saying.

She is not alone. Former Dutch prime minister Dries Van Agt and his wife took the decision to die by euthanasia in February. Dutch media has reported more than 8,720 deaths by euthanasia in the country, up from four per cent last year. The Netherlands had legalised euthanisa or assisted suicide in 2001

There is a procedure to be followed. Zoraya wants to be euthanized in her home, on a couch in the living room. A doctor will give her a sedative followed by a drug that will stop her heart. Her boyfriend will be by her side at the end. Zoraya also wants her body to be cremated, not buried.

Many European countries have legalised euthanasia including Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany. Some states in the US allow it. So does Canada. But the act of legally taking one’s own life remains deeply controversial and is hotly debated.

In India, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by then chief justice Dipak Mishra, ruled in March 2018 that people had the right to die with dignity. This made it easier for terminally ill patients to cease treatment through what is called passive euthanasia. In doing so, the apex court overturned a 1994 judgement that held both assisted suicide and euthanasia unlawful.