Dear reader
Assisted suicide is still prohibited by law in many countries. Free and responsible citizens continue to be patronised and prevented against their will from ending their suffering and life in a manner they personally consider dignified. Relatives and friends who respect the wish of a seriously ill person to die and who give him or her their support are still being treated as criminals.
Freedom of choice, self-determination and self-responsibility in life and at life’s end: this is what “DIGNITAS – To live with dignity – To die with dignity” continues to work for internationally; in its political and legal work, in its daily advising of individuals seeking help, and in preparing and providing assisted suicide for suffering individuals who have made a clear and well-considered choice and who are still denied this right in their home country.
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COUNTRY UPDATE
| BRITISH ISLES The move to assisted dying laws Guest article by Trevor Moore*Much has changed in a year. In last year’s piece I reported that England & Wales lagged behind other parts of the British Isles in any move to introduce an assisted dying law and how the Isle of Man, Jersey and Scotland were all progressing to introduce laws, possibly by the end of this year or early next. … read more |
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| ICELAND Assisted dying: slow but steady progress Guest article by Ingrid Kuhlman*Founded in 2017, the Icelandic Right to Die Society, Lífsvirðing, is dedicated to advancing respectful and open dialogue around assisted dying. Our key objectives are as follows: 1. Fostering Constructive Discussion: We facilitate open, comprehensive, and broad conversations on assisted dying, … read more |
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| HUNGARY On the death of Dániel Karsai Hungarian lawyer Dániel Karsai, who suffered from ALS, died at the end of September 2024. He and his colleagues had campaigned in Hungary for his right to end his suffering and life in a self-determined manner at home. Karsai went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which dealt with the case as a matter of priority, but essentially confirmed … read more |
INSIDE DIGNITAS
| How the work of DIGNITAS is changingWhen the association “DIGNITAS – To live with dignity –To die with dignity” (abbreviated: “DIGNITAS”) was founded in 1998, it was already legally possible for people from abroad to end their own suffering and life in Switzerland with a doctor’s support. The country set a particularly progressive-liberal precedent in the world in this respect, and the association soon received enquiries from seriously ill people from neighbouring countries who were willing to travel to Switzerland for an accompanied suicide – assisted dying. There was, and still is, no reason why access to professional assistance in ending one’s own suffering and life should depend on where someone lives. Ideally, this assistance should be legally available where a person is at home. Most people prefer to die at home, and this is why DIGNITAS has been campaigning for this “last human right” worldwide through legal and political work since its foundation, providing information about end-of-life choices and making it possible for people from all over the world to exercise this right in a professional, legal and medically supported setting in Switzerland. Self-determination until life’s end is a worldwide topic Today, in many countries, considerably more importance is attached to self-determinately shaping the end of one’s own life than 25 years ago. Information is available worldwide, and the pressure on politicians to enable people to have freedom of choice in their own country is increasing. This – just like DIGNITAS’ daily advisory and information work – is by far not only about assisted suicide, but also about patients’ rights, advance health care planning, appropriate medical care, palliative measures, appropriate old age care, etc. This is encouraging, but in many countries any form of assisted dying is still a criminal offence. Moreover, in many countries where some form of assisted dying (i.e. assisted suicide and/or voluntary euthanasia) is now legally possible under certain conditions, a large group of seriously suffering people is still excluded from this right, often because access has been arbitrarily restricted by law to people with a terminal illness and life expectancy of just a few months. High know-how requirements, more complex cases and longer processing times This development also has consequences for the daily work of DIGNITAS. The total number of assisted suicides … read more |
| WORTH SEEING / READING |
| The death of Chika Kapadia – a friend’s perspective by Shonali Bose, India* When my friend of 25 years Chika Kapadia broke the news to me that he had just been told he had only four months to live and would I come for his going away party to Zurich – I was devastated and gobsmacked. He had just found out 48 hours prior that he was terminal and on hearing that his end would be painful he asked his doctor if there was any way out. The doctor whispered “Zurich” before hanging up the phone. He refused to explain about a dignified way to die as he claimed it went against his Hippocratic oath. But he gave a hint. Chika immediately … read more |
* In 2022, Indian director Shonali Bose accompanied her long-time friend Chika Kapadia to DIGNITAS in Switzerland and, at his request, documented the last weeks of his life. The resulting film “A Fly on the Wall” is a story about friendship as much as about the right to die with dignity.
| The World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference 2024 18 – 21 September in Dun Laoghaire near Dublin Every two years, the World Federation of Right to Die Societies (WFRtDS) holds a general assembly where its member associations meet. The WFRtDS is a worldwide non-profit umbrella organization of societies which advocate a self-determined and dignified end of life. The biannual assembly is part of a public conference organised by one of the WFRtDS members, of which there are 60, in 30 countries around the world. The 2024 conference was hosted by End of Life Ireland, a non-profit organisation of volunteers who advocate for voluntary assisted dying as a valid end of life choice. A preconference event, also open to the public, marked the start of a topic which increasingly is gaining attention around the world: dementia. Canadian Jule Briese presented her play ‘Ten Minutes to Midnight’ based on her and Wayne Briese’s book “Shared Conversations – Glimpses of Alzheimer’s”. It describes the dementia journey … read more |
| DID YOU KNOW THAT … |
| … there is no such thing as “suicide tourism”?The so-called “suicide tourism” is a disgraceful expression, a creation of scribblers aiming to scandalise assisted suicide through their choice of words in – intentional or unintentional – ignorance of the facts. Unfortunately, the term is brought up again on every occasion, currently also in connection with the “Sarco” pod.People who travel to Switzerland for an assisted suicide are neither travelling here for pleasure like tourists, nor do they actually want to die – yet, in view of their suffering they no longer see any possibility to continue living and have no legal way of exercising the right and freedom to fully self-determine their life’s end at home. The decision to make this journey, the demanding preparation process, and the journey itself require a lot of strength, perseverance and determination. No one who has an acceptable option of shaping the end of their own life according to their own wishes where they live will take on such a journey. It is a well-considered and never easy act of self-determination and deserves appropriate and respectful wording in social, political and media discussions. |