Taken from: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/060704/3/41vvq.html
Tuesday July 4, 10:26 AM
Swiss suicide helper says he is saving
lives
By Laura MacInnis
ZURICH (Reuters) - A Swiss lawyer who has helped arrange 573 deaths
believes his assisted suicide centre Dignitas, which has attracted
people from all over the world, has saved many more lives than it
has ended.
Ludwig Minelli, a spry 73-year-old who hopes to live beyond 100,
said it was important to break social taboos over suicide, which he
called "a marvellous possibility" for those wanting to control
their conditions of their deaths.
By offering people a chance calmly to contemplate ending their
lives and discuss their options with friends and family, Minelli
said his non-profit association had actually kept many people from
committing the act.
"We are the biggest suicide preventing organisation," he said,
estimating that as many as 70 percent of those cleared for assisted
suicide with help from Dignitas decided against it.
In an interview at his home in Zurich, Minelli said the
eight-year-old group was "doing a very important job" and rejected
criticism by religious, medical and political leaders that he
actively encouraged people to consider killing themselves.
"I have always been a person who helps people," he said.
NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT
Swiss statutes on assisted suicide are among the most liberal in
the world. There is no residency requirement and only one visit to
a Swiss doctor is needed to receive approval.
Dignitas, founded in 1998, has become a lightning rod for public
outcry in Europe because much more of its clientele comes from
abroad than other Swiss right-to-die groups.
Most of the 5,000 "members" contemplating suicide live in Britain,
Germany and Switzerland, although Minelli said they were spread
across more than 50 countries worldwide.
In a conversation lasting nearly three hours, in which he spoke of
Dignitas members as young as 20, Minelli said he hoped assisted
death would soon be available everywhere.
"People all over the world should be given an opportunity to have
an assisted suicide with instructed helpers, preventing every risk,
for a death without any pain," Minelli said.
Drawing parallels with abortion, once restricted to back alleys and
now part of mainstream medical care in most Western countries, the
former journalist said it was critical that suicide be openly
acknowledged, discussed and regulated.
"I think that within about 50 years, most parts of the world will
accept it...so there are no longer any lonely suicides and just
assisted suicides," he said.
DEATH TOURISM
Minelli has provoked the anger of medical associations and
religious leaders who argue he is actively encouraging people to
think about killing themselves, and from politicians who say his
work risks making Switzerland a death-tourism destination.
The Swiss government decided in May to not tighten the laws that
affect assisted suicide despite increasing numbers of foreigners
coming to the country specifically to die.
An assisted suicide with help from Dignitas, which includes a
medical consultation, a prescription from a Swiss doctor for lethal
drugs consumed in a nondescript Zurich apartment, and cremation,
costs about 3,500 euros (2,400 pounds).
Minelli said Dignitas carefully screened members to ensure their
intended assisted suicide was "justified" because of debilitating
or degenerative ailments, a clear desire to die, and a lack of ways
to make life bearable through pain therapy or hospice care.
"We never have a possibility to say 'send us 3,500 euros and the
next day you will be dead'. We always look first to see if we can
help the person to live," he said.
Without access to assisted suicide, Minelli said desperate people
were vulnerable to severe and long-term physical and mental damage
from unsuccessful suicide attempts, which he said were 50 times
more common than successful suicides, citing a U.S. study.
Minelli urged governments to inform the public about the risks from
ineffective suicide methods, and encourage frank conversations
about death and dying.
The self-described agnostic said it was critical that people not be
alone in their last moments of life.
"You should not leave for a long journey without saying goodbye to
your friends and your family," he said.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Atkins)
