General Article
April 14, 2024
A Public Debate about Tired of Life in Belgium?
In Belgium this week, the Chairman of the health fund, Christian Mutual, Luc Van Gorp, has said that those who feel that their life is complete, should be able to end it. In an interview with the Belgian newspaper, Nieuwsblad, Luc Van Gorp said that he wants people at the end of their lives to […]
April 8, 2024
The Meaning of Life in an Eclipse by Philip Nitschke
In 2002 during the filming of Janine Hosking’s documentary, Mademoiselle and the Doctor, Exit founder Philip Nitschke got to experience a total eclipse in the Australian outback. Hosking used the occasion to ask Philip about his religious beliefs and what the eclipse meant to him.
March 25, 2024
Psychiatrists Must Face the Raw Reality
Psychological suffering Euthanasia for psychiatric patients ís a thorny issue. But you cannot solve it by not paying attention, argues Dutch Psychiatrist Menno Oosterhoff. My colleague, psychiatrist Joeri Tijdink, recently questioned in NRC whether all the focus on euthanasia, due to mental illness, is healthy (19/3). Healthy for whom, I immediately thought. For people with […]
March 15, 2024
Dutch Doctors Association Reject Completed Life Bill
In November 2023, the Dutch political party D66 submitted an amended ‘Completed Life’ (Voltooid Leven) bill to the Dutch Parliament. Responding to criticism, they tightened the eligibility criteria by mandating that people ‘aged 75 and older who feel that their life is complete and therefore want to end it with help at a time of […]
March 2, 2024
Perhaps our free choice of euthanasia for dementia is less free than we like to think
We need to talk more to people with dementia Is our free choice to decide now that we want euthanasia when we become demented really that free, asks Jessie Dezutter in her opinion editorial. Dear person with dementia, We often talk about you. We talk about you. Less often we talk to you. That may […]
March 2, 2024
Poison seller tied to suicide forum tracked down by BBC
By Angus Crawford and Tony Smith A Ukrainian man selling a poison thought to be linked to at least 130 UK deaths has been identified by the BBC. Leonid Zakutenko advertised his services on a website promoting suicide and he told an undercover reporter he sent five parcels a week to the UK. He has […]
February 29, 2024
Couples Going Together – PPeH March Update
The news in recent weeks of the ‘duo euthanasia’ of the former Dutch Prime Minister and his wife has generated a vast array of questions from Exit member couples about how they, too, could plan to die together. For people who have been together for many years, it makes a lot of sense to also […]
February 29, 2024
Thank you for the information & help you gave both my parents …
Exit often receives notes of thanks from grateful Exit members and their families. We thought we would share one very moving and touching letter on the website. This note of grace in dying (& thanks) is published with full permission of its author. 2 February 2024 Dear Dr Nitschke, I’m writing to thank you for […]
February 26, 2024
Canada’s assisted dying laws in spotlight as expansion paused again
Canada’s assisted dying laws in spotlight as expansion paused again Canada has one of the highest rates of euthanasia in the world, with 4.1% of deaths aided by doctors, but moves to make it more accessible are being questioned. When Canada’s justice minister announced plans to legalise medically assisted dying nearly a decade ago, she […]
February 18, 2024
Going Together
Last week, former Dutch Prime Minister, Dries van Agt died at his home in Nijmegen. His wife Eugenie died alongside him. These deaths have sparked significant international media coverage, making much mention of the fact that they died holding hands. Both were 93 years. Both were very ill. Despite much of the reporting, the chances […]
