Woman, 22, decides not to be euthanised at the last moment and changes her mind as she is about to receive lethal injection - after four-year bid to convince her family she needed to die
- Romy suffered childhood abuse and battled severe depression and anorexia
The story of a Dutch woman who was set to be euthanised but changed her mind moments before her lethal injection was administered has emerged as Britain's Parliament prepares to vote on an assisted dying bill later this month.
Romy, a 22-year-old who suffered clinical depression, eating disorders and anorexia after experiencing childhood abuse, began advocating for her right to die upon turning 18.
After nearly four years of campaigning before doctors, officials and her own family, in June 2023 she found herself lying in a hospital bed in the Dutch city of Leiden.
Earlier that day she had seen the black hearse and coffin in which her lifeless body would be carted to the mortuary and had handed out t-shirts emblazoned with the words 'life sucks' to commemorate the event.
A clinician stood over her, clasping a syringe, and said: 'The first injection numbs your vein... The second injection stops your breathing. After that, you will die quickly.'
Romy gave the doctor the green light to continue, but as they stepped up to administer the lethal injection, she was asked one last question.
'Are you sure?'
That final step - a question doctors must ask euthanasia patients to comply with laws in the Netherlands - triggered an outpouring of emotion from Romy who, with her mother by her side and her brother waiting in the garden, called off her own death at the last minute.
In some countries like the Netherlands and Canada, healthcare practitioners are authorised to administer lethal injections to patients at their request and in specific circumstances
Romy's story comes at a time when people in England and Wales living with terminal illnesses could soon be granted the power to legally end their own life via a bill that is certain to spark bitter debate
Today, Romy lives in communal assisted living in Rotterdam and is studying for a diploma in adult education.
She applied once again for euthanasia after calling off her first try at the final moment, but with trauma therapy and consistent work she has found purpose in her life and now says she wants 'nothing more than to live'.
Reflecting on her journey, she told Dutch outlet NRC: 'Because I've been so close to death, I see life as something valuable. It won't always go well, but I now know there is light at the end of the tunnel.'
Asked what gives her hope, she laughed: 'This is going to sound crazy: I genuinely enjoyed paying rent. It gives my life meaning.'
For those advocating against euthanasia and assisted dying, Romy's story is a cautionary tale.
Even after spending four years campaigning for the life-ending procedure and pressing on with the process, Romy decided to pull out at the very last minute and is now living in assisted living accommodation, able to enjoy a relatively normal life.
Professor Kevin Yuill of the pressure group, Humanists Against Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (HAASE), argued the case shows the need for better care, not euthanasia.
It comes at a time when people in England and Wales living with terminal illnesses could soon be granted the power to legally end their own life via a bill that is certain to spark bitter debate.
'This is a chilling story that, if the bill is passed, could happen in the UK to those with severe eating disorders,' Yuill told The Times.
'More than 60 people — mostly young women — have received an assisted death for anorexia across the world, including in the United States, the model for the bill. It can happen here.'
The draft bill, published Monday, proposes allowing terminally ill adults expected to have less than six months to live to ask for and be provided with help to end their own life, subject to safeguards and protections.
Other countries that have legalised assisted suicide include Australia, Belgium, Canada and parts of the United States, with regulations on who is eligible varying by jurisdiction.
Assisted suicide is different to euthanasia, allowed in the Netherlands and Canada, which involves healthcare practitioners killing patients with a lethal injection at their request and in specific circumstances - as in the case of Romy.
Pro-assisted dying activists protesting in support of the assisted dying bill outside parliament
Other countries that have legalised assisted suicide include Switzerland, Australia, Belgium, Canada and parts of the United States, with regulations on who is eligible varying by jurisdiction. (A 'suicide pod' known as the 'Sarco' is seen in the Netherlands)
Under the draft legislation, only those over 18-years-old in England and Wales and who are expected to die within six months can request assisted dying.
They must have the mental capacity to make a choice about the end of their life and will be required to make two separate declarations about their wish to die.
Two independent doctors have to be satisfied the person is eligible and a High Court judge will need to approve the decision.
Labour lawmaker Kim Leadbeater, who proposed the bill, said the law has robust safeguards built into it and contains 'three layers of scrutiny' - two doctors and a High Court judge will have to sign off on any decision.
According to the draft bill headed for Parliament, anyone found guilty of pressuring, coercing or dishonestly getting someone to make a declaration that they wish to die will face up to 14 years in prison.
The patient must self-administer the life-ending medication themselves. No doctor or anyone else can give the medication.
No health professional is under any obligation to provide assistance to the patient, while doctors who do take part would have to be satisfied the person making their declaration to die has made it voluntarily.
Opponents have voiced concerns that the bill would mean people could become pressured to end their lives.
But one argument supporting the bill is that wealthy individuals can travel to Switzerland, which allows foreigners to go there to legally end their lives, while others have to face possible prosecution for helping their loved ones to die.
A campaigner from 'Dignity in Dying' demonstrating outside the Palace of Westminster
Ms Leadbeater presents her bill on assisted dying to the Speaker. It will be debated in the Commons on November 29
The bill will be debated in Parliament and lawmakers will be able to vote on it according to their conscience, rather than along party lines.
A debate and first vote on the bill is expected to take place on November 29.
Opinion among lawmakers appears to be divided, though Britain's Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he intended to vote against the bill.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Tuesday he will study the details of the bill and 'will not be putting pressure on any MP (Member of Parliament) to vote one way or the other.'
Starmer has previously supported assisted dying, but the government says it will remain neutral on the issue.
If the bill passes the first stage in the House of Commons, it will face further scrutiny and votes in both Houses of Parliament.
Leadbeater suggested that any new law is unlikely to come into effect within the next two to three years.
