[ad_1]
Euthanasia is allowed in Austria. The previous legal ban on assisting suicide violates the right to self-determination, the Constitutional Court (VfGH) ruled on Friday in Vienna. It is unconstitutional to prohibit any type of suicide assistance without exception. On the other hand, killing on demand is still a crime.
The right to self-determination encompasses “both the right to shape life and the right to a dignified death,” the judges said. The new regulation will enter into force on January 1, 2022.
The Austrian Society for an End of Human Life (ÖGHL) spoke of a historic breakthrough. Austria is doing the same in an international comparison, albeit with some delay. The Catholic Church, however, was appalled. The euthanasia ruling was a break in the dam and jeopardized solidarity, criticized the president of the bishops’ conference, the Archbishop of Salzburg, Franz Lackner. “The natural solidarity with those who seek help in our society is fundamentally modified by this judgment,” Lackner said.
The government wants to examine protection measures
Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler of the ruling ÖVP said: “We will continue to ensure that no one has to question the value of his life. So now we have to check what legal protection measures are necessary. “
In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court also made euthanasia possible in February following complaints from the seriously ill, euthanasia and doctors. The right to self-determined death includes the freedom to take one’s own life and to resort to the voluntary help of third parties; This applies to everyone, not just the terminally ill.
Four applicants had filed a lawsuit in Austria, including a man suffering from multiple sclerosis (56) who can no longer participate in his life without outside help, and a healthy 75-year-old man who wants to euthanize in case of an incurable disease . The group of plaintiffs also includes an 80-year-old man with Parkinson’s disease and a doctor (66). The doctor would like to help him die, but he fears criminal and professional consequences.
In European countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, active euthanasia by the doctor is already allowed under certain conditions. Traditionally Catholic states, which include Austria, Ireland and Poland, have thus far adhered to the ban.
