Thousands of people have died by euthanasia and assisted suicide since being legalized in the Netherlands and Belgium. Both countries introduced euthanasia and assisted suicide laws in 2002, although Belgium’s go further in allowing children and people with psychiatric conditions to be eligible. Data from the Institute for Medical Anthropology and Bioethics in Vienna shows that since then, there has been a surge in people dying this way in Belgium, from just 24 in 2002 to 2,656 in 2019.
