Posted on 09/23/2006 10:07:25 AM PDT by wagglebee
LONDON, September 22, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) The Swiss suicide organization that has helped to kill at least 54 British clients and uncounted others from around Europe, is in a test case in the countrys Supreme Court arguing that people suffering from depression or who are tired of life should be able to legally use the facility to end their lives.
Ludwig Minelli, the founder of Dignitas, the Zurich-based organisation said his group was seeking to overturn the Swiss law that allows them to assist only people with a terminal illness.
Following in the wake of the international conference of the Right to Die movement in Toronto earlier this month, the move has come as no surprise to euthanasia opponents, who say it has always been part of the plan to make assisted suicide and euthanasia legal for anyone who wants it.
Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of Canadas Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, who attended the conference, says Minellis court battle is proof at last of the falsehood of the claim that the push to legalize euthanasia is about caring for people in distress.
Schadenberg said that Minelli's request for assisted suicide for the depressed is an admission that the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement is essentially a death on demand culture.
He warned that the demand for changes in the law for terminally ill people rationally requesting a peaceful death, are part of a larger strategy of the death culture and not the final goal.
In fact euthanasia and assisted suicide have nothing to do with terminal illness or rational choices, but rather a demand for an unfettered ability to commit suicide, Schadenberg said. What Minelli is admitting is that people should have the right to suicide assistance, even if they can't rationally consent or they aren't terminal, he concluded.
At the World Federation of Right to Die international conference in Toronto a debate was held on strategy between Canadian Derek Humphrey considered a radical even among euthanasia campaigners and Dr. Rob Jonquière of the Netherlands. Dr. Jonquière was opposed to the radical strategy of Derek Humphrey pushing for legalization on the grounds that it added to public suspicion as to the overall agenda.
Jonquière argued that a subtler method will be to have euthanasia legalized in the Netherlands for people who are "tired of living, using the language of compassion and caring.
Following the movements strong anti-Catholic sentiments, Minelli blamed religion for stigmatising suicide, attacking this stupid ecclesiastical superstition against suicide and euthanasia.
Schadenberg told LifeSiteNews.com that a leading theme of the Toronto conference was the movements hatred for Christianity and Catholicism in particular which it sees as the only credible opposition to their goals.
Minelli, speaking to a group of Liberal Democrats in England, confirmed Schadenbergs thesis, saying, We should see in principle suicide as a marvellous possibility given to human beings because they have a conscience . . . If you accept the idea of personal autonomy, you cant make conditions that only terminally ill people should have this right.
We should accept generally the right of a human being to say, Right, I would like to end my life, without any pre-condition, as long as this person has capacity of discernment.
A spokesman for English disability groups concurred with Schadenbergs analysis saying, This confirms the suspicions of many disabled people that legalising assisted suicide would be the start of a slippery slope that would lead to anyone, whatever their condition, being helped or even coerced into opting for death.
Read coverage in the UKs Telegraph:
Depression is not a good reason to die
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/main.jhtml?xml=/health/200...
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Swiss Assisted Suicide Entrepreneur Wants to Open Chain of Suicide Clinics
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/apr/06041807.html
Solitary confinement for the lonely.
My team lost.
I'm so depressed!
Hey! Wait a minute guys! I'm not THAT depressed!
What would we do without a bunch of "sensitive," angry, leftwing nutcases looking out for our well being?
SAM-E is available over the counter and is the best happy pill around.
More creative ways to get to zero population
"Following the movements strong anti-Catholic sentiments, Minelli blamed religion for stigmatising suicide, attacking this stupid ecclesiastical superstition against suicide and euthanasia."
Thank God someone has the fortitude to speak out against outrageous practices and the culture of death.
The culture of death is already pushing to be allowed to euthanize people who are not terminal, and do not want to be euthanized. Terri Schiavo and Haleigh Poutre are just a couple of the better known victims. But there are many, many more.
"Depression is treatable, it is NOT a terminal illness."
Thank you! My husband of fiftenn years suffers from depression. He's totally fine, and after a four year battle, he's on meds that work for him, and he's also changed aspects of his life that help with his "weird brain chemistry." (No booze, getting enough sleep, eating well, exercise, etc.)
I'm all for socialists/liberals wanting to "off" themselves. Can I, in clear conscience, actually allow them to do it? Unfortunately, no.
There is no slippery slope! Nothing to see here -- only compassion and caring! /s
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
I was just thinking about a dear friend I lost two years ago. She was 45 years old and died of liver cancer. She worked so hard and played so hard. She was so active and full of life. I was wondering if somehow she knew she wouldn't have enough time down here to get it all in. Maybe that's why some people are more fired up. I don't know.
"Depression is treatable, it is NOT a terminal illness." - Life itself is terminal illness. But are these Swiss depressives so depressed as to need assistance in suicides? Switzerland is an armed country, and those needing a poetic touch could always go in the mountains and fall from there. At least the scenery would be uplifting.
That's right.
I don't know either. I had a friend who was up most of the time; it was just her nature; life hadn't handed her any better than me. I suppose it could be argued that I got a better deal in some ways. Sometimes part of it is just in the genetic makeup, although I'm not a fan in blaming all our problems on our genes, but they are finding out more and more about what causes some things.
To me it's like the chicken and the egg. You get angry. It changes the chemicals in your body. You can feel it. It subsides with most of us. Was it the chemicals that made us angry or the anger that cranked up the chemical output to the point of imbalance? Maybe that's not a good analogy but the best I can come up with now.
I like to be around people who are fired up if they aren't too much so. People don't like to be around depressed people and avoid them, and I can understand why. They can bring you down if you let them and you have to set limits on some people, not all depressed people are like that.
I'm sorry about your friend. Some people just seem to know. I'm always amazed when people are handed a near death sentence due to some incurable disease and they go on with their lives, living to the fullest they know. I didn't know her, but I worked in the same place with a youngish woman with incurable cancer. She worked until her last days, then died that weekend. Same with a crossing guard we had. I admire their spirit.
You took the words right out of my mouth. The nonsense from the left never stops. On the other hand, if they start killing themselves in huge numbers, it might mean fewer of them voting. Just as long as they don't start strapping bombs to their bellies before they put out the lights, I might have to reconsider my position on this issue.
You sound like such a great person. I am sorry you are afflicted with chronic depression. I hope one day they figure out how to actually cure it.
Hopefully Babs will move there when the GOP wins the white house in November.
The vey idea makes my skin crawl.
I've been depressed, but to have THIS available is blasphemy. Esp when suicide is made so nice and painless...
No doubt they detested blessed John Paul so Great for not stepping aside.
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