December 14, 2020
Austria Lifts Ban on Assisted Suicide
Severely ill people in Austria will now have the right to end their lives with the help of another person, the Constitutional Court ruled yesterday, lifting the ban on assisted suicide, DPA reported.
However, killing a person at his request remains illegal, the higher judicial institution stressed.
Several citizens have asked judges to repeal the current rules. Among them is a 56-year-old man, bedridden and suffering from multiple sclerosis, who cannot commit suicide without help.
Another plaintiff is a doctor who wants to assist in such cases without legal or professional consequences.
“The free personal decision to end your life has become a human right in Austria today,” the Austrian Association for a Humane End of Life, an organization lobbying for the legalization of assisted suicide, said yesterday.
Catholic bishops, for their part, reacted with concern and warned that the decision could increase pressure on the sick and elderly to end their lives.