Netherlands: Doctors are feeling pressured to approve euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Netherlands Times reported on March 26, 2026 that there were 10,341 reported euthanasia deaths in 2025 representing 6% of all deaths, an increase of 3.8% from 9,958 in 2024.

Last week, the Netherlands Minister of Public Health, Sophie Hermans, confirmed that at least one child has now died by euthanasia in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands Times published an article on July 3, 2026 concerning a study that has examined the cultural changes that are feeding the increase in euthanasia deaths. The article states:

Lead researcher and healthcare ethicist Els van Wijngaarden of Radboudumc observes that “the euthanasia law has not changed, but its application has.” Last year, cancer was the reason for euthanasia in only about half of all cases. In the late 1990s, this was still 90 percent. Other reasons, like dementia and mental disorders, increased.

Views on end-of-life suffering have changed significantly, the researchers note. Euthanasia is more frequently a topic of conversation, and religious views play an increasingly smaller role.

The report also studied changes in the Netherlands healthcare system.

The report also highlights the pressure on the healthcare system. According to the researchers, healthcare cutbacks, staff shortages in terminal and elderly care, and problems in mental healthcare can reinforce or encourage euthanasia requests. “For example, when patients notice that their quality of life is declining due to pressure on the healthcare system, this could influence their choice for euthanasia,” the researchers state.

Van Wijngaarden cannot say whether the pressure on the healthcare system directly leads to more euthanasia requests. According to her, more research is needed for that. However, she finds the shortcomings in the healthcare system alarming. "You do not want pressure on the healthcare system to go hand in hand with increasing acceptance of euthanasia." Researchers are therefore calling for further investigation into the role of that pressure.

The report also examined pressure on physicians to kill by euthanasia.

The report also notes that doctors are experiencing increasing pressure from patients and their loved ones because euthanasia is increasingly seen as a normal way of dying. Patients are increasingly reluctant to accept when a doctor rejects a request for euthanasia, which in turn can make doctors more reluctant to allow it. The Termination of Life Review Act, which allows people to apply for euthanasia, is based on the principles of “mercy, the protectability of life, and autonomy.”

According to the researchers, that balance is shifting, with autonomy becoming increasingly important to patients. People increasingly believe they are entitled to euthanasia, even though this is not the case. “Euthanasia continues to be considered a special medical act. Many doctors experience its execution as morally burdensome, emotionally stressful, and time-consuming,” Van Wijngaarden said.

The report found that doctors are feeling pressured to approve euthanasia.

The Netherlands Times reported that Mirjam Bikker (CU) who ahad requested that the government conduct the study, called it: 

"alarming" that "the shortage of care contributes to the rise in euthanasia." 

Researcher Van Wijngaarden thought that is "too simplistic."

The euthanasia report was presented to Minister of Public Health, Sophie Hermans (VVD) on Thursday July 2, 2026.

More articles on the Netherlands euthanasia law.

• Child euthanasia confirmed in the Netherlands (Read).
• Dutch psychiatrist warns Canada don't extend euthanasia to mental illness (Read).
• Psychiatric euthanasia and suicide prevention in the Netherlands (Read).
• Netherlands 2025 euthanasia report. Euthanasia deaths surpass 10,000 (Read).
• Autistic teenager euthanized in the Netherlands (Read).
• Euthanasia for young people and psychiatric reasons in the Netherlands (Read).