Posted on 06/05/2010 12:55:58 PM PDT by wagglebee
The Swiss death clinic, Dignitas, is in the news again.
You’ll recall that Dignitas has gained notoriety as a fee-for-service killing venue for those who wish to die via assisted suicide. Dignitas has been most exposed by high-profile visits from UK citizens who travelled to the clinic to die because in the UK assisted suicide is illegal, and allows for the prosecution (at least on paper) of those who help people kill themselves.
However, there’s a very ugly underbelly to all the spin that Dignitas is a haven of care and a celebration of human autonomy.
There have been reports of dingy and dirty surroundings, less than dignified treatment of those who come to be killed both before and after they die, and the nagging fact that this is all offered at a rather exorbitant fee.
It gets worse. Several months ago hundreds of urns with the cremated remains of Dignitas’ victims were discovered dumped in Lake Geneva. This matter is currently under investigation.
Dignitas is again in the news, and I’m not sure why this latest issue so surprises the media, because Dignitas is doing exactly what it has always said it was doing: Helping anyone who wants to to kick the bucket.
The latest flap involves Dignitas’ providing a suicide kit to a 39 year-old Spanish man with severe psychological problems. From London's Daily Mail:
Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas is under investigation over claims that it ignored a patient's distressed mental condition to give him drugs to end his own life. . . . But now details have emerged of a patient who was allegedly given a DIY suicide kit prescribed by a Zurich gynaeologist despite suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. . . . But a Dignitas report on the 39-year-old Spanish man's mental state was a few lines that barely covered half a page of A4 paper, say local media reports on the death.
Oops.
Or maybe not.
Here’s why: All the chatter about “transparency,” policies to “protect,” rigid controls to ensure that no “mistakes” are made is all smoke and mirrors on the way to the only goal the pro-death crowd have always wanted: Assisted suicide and euthanasia on demand and available for anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Don’t take my word for it, take those of Dignitas’ owner Minelli:
'Every person in Europe has the right to choose to die, even if they are not terminally ill.'
Chilling.
Their agenda has ALWAYS been killing, they don't give a damn about dignity.
Pro-Life Ping
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
Ping
Suicide is already available to anyone with a gas stove in the kitchen or the strength and agility to climb a bridge.
Uhh.. Mr. Diggnits, can I choose for you to die instead?
There is an element to the “suicide booth” that is seldom considered. This is the double question of an analysis of who is being killed and why, and what the long term consequences of this might be.
Officially, it is “Those with terminal illness and severe physical and mental illnesses, and people with incurable mental illnesses.” But as is plainly obvious, this could be very encompassing.
Officially, as of March 2008, Dignitas had thus far killed 840 people. “Most people coming to Dignitas do not plan to die but need insurance in case their illness becomes intolerable. Of those who receive the green light, 70% never return.”
(I think they meant to say “assurance” that Dignitas will kill them in the future if they request it.)
“21% of people receiving assisted dying in Dignitas do not have a terminal or progressive illness, but rather ‘weariness of life’.”
(There was no follow up to this statement. Is this a “green light” or not?)
Dignitas has been under multiple investigations for a long time, some of the people they have killed have been perfectly healthy.
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/dignitas/index?tab=articles
You'd have a hard time getting a conviction on someone taking revenge on them in America ~ although there's been darned little of that in Europe. Could it be most heirs are happy with the solutions?
Some people love to lead others into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. I wonder how they’ll feel when it’s their turn?
exactly! What are their no tall buildings in Europe?
Brings chills to the heart. Those who love death hate the One Who is the source of all life.
This is the very emblem of evil.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.