In the Netherlands, 4,188 people were euthanised in 2012, compared to over 7,000 in 2017. These figures were highlighted in a study published in the British Medical Journal.
Steven Pleiter, “an advocate of euthanasia”, is the director of Levenseindekliniek[1], a clinic that performs only euthanasia, especially for people who have been turned away elsewhere. He believes that this marked increase is linked to “the end of ‘a taboo’ on killing patients who want to die”.
His clinic euthanised 32 patients in 2012, but he is already forecasting approximately 720 between now and the end of the year. In order to this, he openly advertises for doctors and nurses on television, the radio and in medical journals, to increase the number of doctors from 57 to more than 100. He explains, “I expect far more growth in the years to come”.
[1] Netherlands: a clinic fails to comply with official directives governing euthanasia
Bioethics Observatory (20/04/2018)