A chilling petition in the Netherlands, spearheaded by the radical End-of-Life Self-Direction Foundation and founded by euthanasia activist Wim van Dijk, has amassed over 75,000 signatures, forcing a parliamentary debate to completely decriminalize assisted suicide by scrapping all restrictions, including the need for medical approval.
This move builds on the country’s disastrous 2002 legalization of euthanasia, which started with supposed safeguards but has devolved into a culture of death, claiming roughly 10,000 lives in 2025 alone. The progressive D66 party plans to introduce the measure next year, accelerating the slippery slope toward unrestricted killing under the guise of “autonomy,” as critics warn it endangers the vulnerable and undermines the sanctity of life.
Alarming statistics reveal the true horror: a 2021 government study uncovered 9,799 assisted deaths, including 517 cases where lives were ended without explicit request. Globally, Quebec leads in assisted suicide requests, but the Netherlands and Belgium follow closely, while Canada saw about 15,000 deaths through Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in 2023—a 16% surge, making it the fifth leading cause of death and accounting for one in 20 fatalities nationwide.
Even more disturbing, Dutch laws now permit doctors to euthanize children as young as one year old, including newborns deemed to be “suffering unbearably” with no hope of improvement, resulting in 9,958 euthanasia deaths in 2024—or 5.8% of all deaths in the country.
Offering death as a “solution” signals a profound societal failure, abandoning the suffering instead of providing care and hope. As nations like the Netherlands barrel toward moral abyss, the global pro-life community must resist this dehumanizing trend, remembering that true dignity lies in cherishing every life until natural end.