Irene Vorrink (7 January 1918 – 21 August 1996) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). She was born on 7 January 1918 in The Hague as the daughter of the Dutch socialist leader Koos Vorrink. She studied law until 1943 and held several legal functions, before she became a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

for the PvdA in 1969. In 1973 she became Minister of Health in the cabinet Den Uyl. A major issue was the legislation concerning

drug A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via insufflation (medicine), inhalation, drug i ...

s, which she achieved in 1976 together with Minister of Justice,

Dries van Agt Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (; 2 February 1931 – 5 February 2024) was a Dutch politician, jurist and diplomat who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 until 4 November 1982. He was a prominent leader o ...

. The Netherlands has since then employed a distinction between

hard and soft drugs Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an in ...

. She also took the leading role in attempting to establish a legal basis for the

fluoridation Water fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to public water supplies to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water maintains fluoride levels effective for cavity prevention, achieved naturally or through supplementation. In the mou ...

of drinking water. Though fluoridation to prevent

tooth decay Tooth decay, also known as caries,The word 'caries' is a mass noun, and is not a plural of 'carie'.'' is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The resulting cavities may be a number of different colors, from yellow to black ...

had been occurring in many areas across the Netherlands for years, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled in 1973 that it should be specifically provided for in the Water Supply law. Her bill to do so did not find support in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

outside her own party, and was dropped. From 1978 until 1979 Vorrink was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

in the city of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. A 16 MW nearshore wind farm in the

IJsselmeer The IJsselmeer (; , ), also known as Lake IJssel in English, is a closed-off freshwater lake in the central Netherlands bordering the Provinces of the Netherlands, provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland. It covers an area of with a ...

was named after her in 1996.

References

External links

;Official *
Mr. I. (Irene) Vorrink
Parlement & Politiek *
Mr. I. Vorrink (PvdA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal 1918 births 1996 deaths Aldermen of Amsterdam Dutch newspaper editors Dutch women newspaper editors Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch women jurists Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of health of the Netherlands Politicians from The Hague University of Amsterdam alumni Women government ministers of the Netherlands 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch educators 20th-century Dutch women educators 20th-century Dutch women politicians 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century Dutch women writers 20th-century Dutch journalists {{Netherlands-PvdA-politician-stub