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 die together.
This is hardly a new sentiment.
For many of us, life is only worth living because of the people we love. If that person dies, it is understandable that life can lose its meaning.
And if one is elderly, why should one be forced to live on, in the hope that ‘things will get better’ as ‘time heals’.
At Exit, going together is seen as a legitimate choice in end of life planning. It is a choice that should not be thwarted.
Exit Members who have died as a couple include:
- Syd & Marjorie Croft
- Don & Iris Flounders
- Peter & Pat Shaw
- Athol & Beverley WhistonThe Status Quo
However at the current time, end of life laws rarely allow for couples to go together.
This is because the vast majority of end of life laws are predicated upon the recipient being seriously ill in order to qualify for help to die.
It is rare, indeed, for two members of a couple to get sick enough, at the same time, to get lawful help to die.
If two people want to die at the same time, this invariably means the DIY route.
Options include methods such as Nitrogen, Nembutal and the Salts.
The March 2024 Peaceful Pill eHandbook Update examines the phenomenon of couples deciding to die together and how different couples make different choices.
Read our Blog about Dries & Eugenie van Agt
