Thursday October 21, 2010
Let Family Members of Suicides Kill Themselves Too Says Euthanasia Org Prez
By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
October 21, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The leader of Switzerland’s leading assisted suicide organization says that he wants family members of patients who commit suicide to have the right to kill themselves also.
Ludwig Minelli, president of the pro-suicide organization “Dignitas,” told a Swiss newspaper in a recent interview that “a change in the law is required to give dementia sufferers and their families more opportunities.”
“The partner should be allowed to have a prescription for these drugs even when they are not terminally ill. In such cases the partners are often a similar age and one does not want to remain without the other,” he added.
Ludwig Minelli “is not concerned that many people go through a dark time in their life when they need to be protected and certainly not killed,” said Alex Shadenburg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coaltion, who added that “Minelli has become incredibly wealthy from his Dignitas clinic. He suggests that the fees that he charges are simply to provide a service. In fact he charges large fees and offers many additional services at a fee. Minelli is really hoping to make more money.”
Assisted suicide in Switzerland is legal for patients suffering from an incurable or terminal illness. Minelli’s organization has assisted the suicides of hundreds of people since 1998.
In one recent case, famed British orchestra conductor Sir. Edward Downes, who was suffering from blindness and deafness, committed suicide with the assistance of the group. His wife, a cancer victim, joined him. Minelli called the suicides a “marvelous opportunity.”
Previous LifeSiteNews coverage:
Neighbors Complain Swiss Euthanasia ‘Clinic’ Parade of Dead Bodies Disturbing
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060807.html