These are some of the reasons why de Jong has lobbied so hard to establish a euthanasia clinic. She recalls the case of a 28-year-old woman who suffered from depression from an early age and had been in therapy for years. The woman asked her psychiatrist for help in ending her life, but he declined. She eventually pulled a plastic bag over her head and suffocated herself.

De Jong says the new clinic has also been created to fulfill the death wishes of individuals who are not terminally ill, as was the case with this woman. Of course, the doctor adds, the euthanasia clinic will evaluate each case on its own particular merits. During her career as a practicing physician, she has personally terminated the lives of 16 patients, adding that it has always been a difficult decision.

The largest professional medical organization in the Netherlands, the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG), takes a critical view of the introduction of mobile euthanasia. Although the organization supports euthanasia in principle, it argues that it’s absolutely essential to build a relationship of trust between doctors and patients before taking this step. The KNMG says that patients and their suicide assistants should know each other as well as possible. Its concern is that the due care criteria proscribed by law could be undermined by mobile euthanasia doctors. Nevertheless, in case of doubt, the medical association advises its members to cooperate with the new euthanasia clinic.