8mm
Posted on 07/14/2008 4:00:30 PM PDT by wagglebee
Zurich, Switzerland (LifeNews.com) -- A leading government official in Switzerland wants the European nation to stop the infamous practice of "death tourism." That's where residents of other countries come to the mountainous nation to have pro-euthanasia groups help them engage in an assisted suicide.
Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf says the practice is giving her nation a bad name.
"Today somebody can come to Switzerland and already the next day can have an assisted suicide through one of these assisted suicide organizations. This should not be possible," Widmer-Schlumpf told the Sonntags Zeitung newspaper.
Widmer-Schlumpf wants to see legislation introduced that would help slow down the practice, since it is unlikely that she can get the Swiss parliament to ban assisted suicides.
She told the newspaper she wants a reflection period in place between the time when the patient comes to Switzerland and the pro-euthanasia group Dignitas carries out the suicide request.
During the reflection time, the patient would receive counseling from a third-party group.
Widmer-Schlumpf also wants more transparency with regard to the funding of Dignitas and similar groups that kill patients coming to Switzerland.
In May, Dignitas released new figures showing more people than ever are opting to have the staff take their lives and that the number of Britons going there to die is on the rise.
UK residents are now in the top three nationalities of the people who go to the euthanasia center.
The euthanasia center has killed 868 in assisted suicides since it began and 335 people in the last two years alone. About 85 percent of the people who die there are foreign nationals with the rest hailing from Switzerland.
Dignitas director Ludwig Minelli told The Sun newspaper that half of the people who die there are German and British and French residents account for most of the rest.
The "bad name" comes from the fact that they allow euthanasia in the first place, it has nothing to do with tourism.
Pro-Life Ping
Freepmail wagglebee to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list.
FreeRepublic moral absolutes keyword search
Then make it not possible by making it illegal for anyone to assist in a suicide, i.e. murder someone.
I wonder what happens to their frequent flyer miles?
That seems to logical. I cannot think of another instance where a government is embarrassed by tourists engaging in an activity and not being embarrassed that citizens engage in the same activity.
We would wonder what the people who passed the Swiss euthanasia law would expect to happen?
I would think that a country whose national policy is to legalize some people to help others kill themselves would itself be sucidial.
Switzerland's euthanasia law is a disgrace, and Swiss Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf knows it.
Well maybe a stiff fine would prevent this. Of course, good luck collecting it once they are successful. Isn’t that the problem? There is nothing to stop anyone once you makeit legal
Once again, can’t keep euthanasia straight from assisted suicide.
Or won’t.
Must be purely an error...they couldn’t be so DISHONEST, could they?
Are you saying that “assisted suicide” groups like Dignitas ARE NOT pro-euthanasia?
So...tell me...how many assisted suicides have occurred in the “euthanasia centers”... I’d guess quite a few.
Now, how many incidents of “euthanasia”...
...few.
Now, how many incidents of “euthanasia”...
...few.
If a person has a sinus infection and goes to the doctor, they are given an antibiotic. If they take the antibiotic EXACTLY AS PRESCRIBED, the infection should go away. Who is treating the sinus infection? Is that patient treating himself or is the doctor treating the patient with the patient simply following the doctors orders? Obviously it is the second.
In the case of "assisted suicide" a patient goes to a doctor wanting to die and they are given a prescription. If they take the prescription EXACTLY AS PRESCRIBED, they will die. So again, it is not the patient treating himself, it is the patient following doctors orders.
Saying that "assisted suicide" IS NOT euthanasia is an insult to anybody with an ounce of intelligence.
God may give a plan to Salvation, and if one follows it, it is He who saves the person... but does that mean there's no Free Will?
Obviously, there is, and so it's ridiculous to equate Assisted Suicide with Euthanasia--it merely obstructs useful dialog by trying to blur definitions. Proof by Definition doesn't leave you any closer to the truth, no matter how good it feels. See Satan as an angel of light and call him your "friend" and he's still Satan, and "a rose by any other name..."
Words mean things, and either you (a) can't see the difference between a person taking action and one not, or (b) you are trying to obscure the difference. Obviously, there's a difference.
Besides, if you take OTC medication to clear your sinus infection, does the doctor get credit anyway? No...the doctor gets credit for his diagnostic and reatment-selection abilities, not for scribing on a piece of paper.
In the case of assisted-suicide scripts, it's not a diagnostic-skill question...it's merely regulation. If these meds were available OTC, then we wouldn't have to have the physicians involved with prescribing them. So don't try to make it analogous to a sinus infection; just help fight to get the FDA out of peoples' lives.
Saying that "assisted suicide" IS NOT euthanasia is an insult to anybody with an ounce of intelligence.
Yes, it takes more than an ounce to see the difference. Sorry for the insult. ;-)
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.