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Swiss Dignitas Organization Euthanized 22 British

LONDON, September 3, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Swiss group, Dignitas, has assisted 22 British citizens to kill themselves since its founding in 1998, rather than the five previously thought, according to the sister of a UK man who sought out Dignitas to end his own life. The revelation comes one week before Lord Joffe is scheduled to table proposed legislation to legalize euthanasia for the British isles before a House of Lords committee.

John Close paid Dignitas to assist him to commit suicide. His sister, Lesley Close, made the revelation that 22 other Britons underwent the same procedure.

Lord Joffe's Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill proposes to "enable a competent adult who is suffering unbearably as a result of a terminal illness to receive medical assistance to die at his own considered and persistent request," according to a BBC account.

Besides being morally disordered, assisted dying presents a number of problems, not least of which, according to Julia Millington from the UK's ProLife Party, is that voluntary euthanasia inevitably leads to involuntary euthanasia. "Voluntary euthanasia has led to involuntary euthanasia. While slippery slope is an overused term, I think it's a real danger."

Millington criticizes the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, who are clamouring for a change to the law to allow assisted suicide. The Society's Mark Slattery claims, "The Bill next week aims to give people a properly safeguarded route to medical assistance to do these things properly rather than them happening in a completely uncontrolled way." But Millington warns that "The Voluntary Euthanasia Society would have us believe that the law would only apply in certain cases where laid down criteria are satisfied."

She cites contrary evidence from the Netherlands: ". . . evidence from countries where euthanasia has been legalized, such as Holland, shows that it is not possible to prevent the boundaries from being expanded."

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Swiss Lure Suicide Victims: Euthanasia Administered Within 24 Hours
"It does not matter what people are suffering from, we do not refuse anyone."
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/04052509.html

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