Alex S. en de Coöperatie Laatste Wil: zelf beschikken over het levenseinde van een ander1

In 2013 the Cooperative Last Will was launched with the objective of making “a dignified self-chosen death available for everyone over the age of 18, without the involvement of any other person.” In 2015 this was changed slightly, omitting the age of 18 on paper – presumably a bit too confrontational after all – and replacing “without the involvement of any other person” by “without any checks by any other person.” The latter change is understandable, because such “involvement of any other person” turned out to be not only necessary, but by now widespread practice. This practice of assisting with suicide and supplying lethal medication without any checks was recently tested by the courts in the first of a series of lawsuits: the Alex S. case. The judge ruled on July 18, 2023, and Alex S. was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, of which 1.5 years suspended.