Only four countries in Europe allow voluntary death, euthanasia: Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain. This story is from the Netherlands and must be accompanied by a WARNING: I have avoided explicit details, physical descriptions, I have added scientific context and arguments about the phenomenon, but nevertheless it remains a disturbing, difficult and emotionally affecting account. However, the case shows a phenomenon, which society has the right to know, in order to discuss “pros” and “cons”.
- What is “psychiatric euthanasia”
According to Romanian law, euthanasia is prohibited. And there are medical, legal, social and faith reasons that continue to support this.
“Killing at the request of the victim”
Article 190 of the Criminal Code updated in 2026 criminalizes the killing committed at the explicit, serious, conscious and repeated request of a person suffering from an incurable disease or a serious infirmity causing permanent suffering.
Euthanasia is punishable in our country with imprisonment from 1 to 5 years. Article 190 of the Criminal Code is called: “Killing at the request of the victim”.
In Europe, a position similar to the one in Romania exists in the vast majority of countries. Euthanasia is allowed in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain. And two more countries allow assisted suicide: Switzerland and Austria.
In our country, the topic is discussed at length, the position of the BOR, but also of the medical body, being firm: both euthanasia and assisted suicide are against the spirit of life.
The following case is one of “psychiatric euthanasia”, one of the methods around which the most intense discussions have arisen in recent times, throughout the world.
“I don't want my little girl to die, but…”
In the Netherlands, Omar and Cissy Dekker, whose 19-year-old daughter Iris chose to end her life after years of mental suffering, explain:
- “I don't want my little girl to die,” Cissy Dekker said of her 19-year-old daughter, Iris.
- “But for love, I don't want this life for her either.”
The story was reported by the American publication Free Press, which supports it with the phrase: “These stories put your body first, not ideology.” But it does not mean that they support euthanasia, on the contrary.
“For three years, at their home in the historic Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom, Omar and Cissy Dekker began each day the same way: waking their teenage daughter, Iris, out of bed and trying to convince her to lead a life she no longer wanted,” the site begins its account.
“When Cissy, a former coroner's nurse, would ask Iris what else she could do for her before she left for work, the answer never changed: 'Can you put a pillow over my head so I can die? Please end my suffering.'
Depression was not something new for the Dekker family, the site notes.
Teenagers from the age of 16 can request euthanasia on their own
“At the age of 13, the girl began complaining of constant back, headache and stomach pain. At first, she coped in school, during shifts at a bakery, while babysitting and playing tennis, relying on a combination of painkillers and antidepressants, school counseling and cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Then the pandemic hit. As the restrictions lengthened, Iris retreated – to her room, away from friends, away from everything. At 15, he tried to commit suicide twice.”
HotNews will not show how Iris, the girl from Holland wanted to commit suicide. This kind of detailed account does nothing to help the public interest.
The case worsened. “In the Netherlands, teenagers from the age of 16 can request euthanasia on their own. Parents must be consulted, but their permission is not required. Those between the ages of 12 and 15 can request euthanasia with the consent of their parents or guardian. In October 2022, Iris, then 16 years old, submitted a request for euthanasia to the Dutch Center for Expertise in Euthanasia, a clinic national. That's when he stopped going to school.”
The parents were against it, initially
Iris' parents did not oppose their only daughter's request for euthanasia. To them, the request seemed like a form of “protection,” according to Cissy, Iris' mother, who initially called her daughter's wish “crazy.”
“I thought if it stops her from trying to kill herself, then that's fine,” the father said. “Maybe he'll feel better with more treatment.”
A month after the application, Iris was referred to the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, where she underwent psychotherapy and underwent several drug tests. In February 2024, Iris was called for a face-to-face consultation with a psychiatrist at the euthanasia clinic.
Arguments against euthanasia: “A system that turns the ambiguous wishes of young people into a diagnosis of incurable depression”
From this point of life history, the publication Free Presse is critical of the Dutch system of evaluating these situations.
“The Dekker family agreed to tell me in detail about their daughter's decisions – and theirs. They also showed me Iris' medical records. I tried to understand how some loving parents could be convinced that the best decision for their daughter was an early death. What I discovered was a system that turns the ambiguous wishes of young people into a diagnosis of incurable depression,” the journalist wrote.
“The trial raises questions not only about the treatment of a few teenagers like Iris who choose to die by euthanasia, but also of countless others who are faced with the idea that their psychological distress is beyond help.”
Assisted dying began as a way to provide a dignified death to patients with incurable physical illnesses. However, over the years, in countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium, it has been extended to include mental illness, including depression, the journalist says.
“Euthanasia exposes vulnerable people to pressure to end their lives“
In an extensive documentary on the arguments against euthanasia, the BBC collected several conclusions of studies and the ideas of the anti-euthanasia camp:
- Allowing euthanasia will lead to a decrease in the quality of care given to the terminally ill.
- Allowing euthanasia undermines the commitment of doctors and nurses to save lives.
- Euthanasia can become a cost-effective way to treat the terminally ill.
- Allowing euthanasia will discourage the search for new treatments and cures for the terminally ill.
- Euthanasia undermines the motivation to provide quality care to the dying and good pain relief.
- Euthanasia gives too much power to doctors.
- Euthanasia exposes vulnerable people to pressure to end their lives.
- Moral pressure on elderly relatives from selfish families
- Moral pressure to release medical resources
- Patients abandoned by their families may feel that euthanasia is the only solution
- Voluntary euthanasia is the start of a slippery slope leading to involuntary euthanasia and the killing of people deemed unwanted
How many cases of “mental euthanasia” were there
Even in countries that have been at the forefront of assisted dying, psychiatric euthanasia is still rare, the Free Press claims. The Netherlands recorded 174 psychiatric euthanasia cases in 2025 — about 1.7% of euthanasia deaths and 0.1% of total deaths.
Of the 338 euthanasia requests received at the Euthanasia Expertise Center in 2025 from patients under the age of 30 involving psychiatric suffering, only 11 were approved. None were minors.
In Iris's case, the euthanasia clinic documented a “persistent desire for euthanasia” and “high levels of distress,” but stopped short of declaring her condition incurable.
It was noted that she did not respond sufficiently to treatment, while it was pointed out that continued treatment could still produce results. Her application was placed on a waiting list.
Months after her evaluation, Iris continued to seek treatment. From October 2024 to January 2025, she received 16 cycles of ketamine treatment at a hospital in Nijmegen, near the German border.
“He wanted to make sure he tried everything – so the euthanasia clinic couldn't reject his request,” explained Iris' father.
“Resistant to treatment”
With each setback, Iris and her parents heard the same conclusion from specialists: her condition was “resistant to treatment” and doctors had exhausted their options.
“In fact, the conclusion that a depression like Iris's can be incurable is itself controversial among psychiatrists. As a recent article in Psychological Medicineclinicians cannot accurately predict the chances of long-term recovery in a given patient with treatment-resistant depression,” writes the Free Press.
“However, patients perceive terms such as resistant to treatment like final sentences”, the site records.
Iris died on March 1st
“I had everything,” Iris explained to her father. “I've had a beautiful life. I have good friends. I have loving parents. I worked in a bakery when I was 14 – it was the best job I've ever had. I know I'm going to be sick for the rest of my life. I'm not getting better. To me, life is fulfilled. It's complete.”
Iris was just 20 years old when she stopped eating and drinking under an elective program called “VSED” in the Netherlands. @RupaSubramanya reports on the complex moral implications of euthanasia for teenagers experiencing psychological distress.
Read the full piece:… pic.twitter.com/8ICgB662aR
— The Free Press (@TheFP) May 27, 2026
“As her condition worsened and she approached the point of no return, which occurs when the body begins to resemble that of a person in the final stages of death from a terminal illness, Iris told Omar – the person appointed to make decisions on her behalf – that she was ready to start palliative sedation. He discussed this with the doctor, who agreed.”
“In her final moments, Iris was unable to speak or respond. As she took her last breath, Omar saw a smile on his daughter's face. 'I couldn't give her more love than by letting her go.' Iris died on March 1, 2026, five days before her 20th birthday,” the Free Press concluded Iris' story.
Item illustration is generic, does not represent Iris. PHOTO source: © Rosipro | Dreamstime.com
