Overview
- Spain carried out the euthanasia of 25-year-old Noelia Castillo Ramos on Thursday after a prolonged legal fight brought by her father and backed by the Christian Lawyers group.
- Dr. Menno Oosterhoff, a Dutch child and adolescent psychiatrist, faces heightened attention after profiles detailed his role in psychiatric euthanasia and a TV documentary revisited a high-profile case.
- In the Netherlands, Oosterhoff euthanised 17-year-old Milou Verhoof on October 2, 2023, a case documented on public television and defended by Milou’s mother as a careful decision.
- Official figures show psychiatric-only euthanasia cases in the Netherlands rose from 88 in 2020 to 219 in 2024, while about 86% of 2024’s 9,958 assisted deaths involved terminal physical illness.
- Dutch law has allowed euthanasia since 2002 for patients with unbearable suffering and no prospect of improvement, and campaign groups now press for policy changes even as no legal shifts are reported.