Campaigns aim to curb assisted suicide

In the run-up to the German Bundestag’s vote on four possible amendments on assisted suicide due yesterday, leading churchmen and politicians, including Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz and Chancellor Angela Merkel, once again underlined their opposition to legalising the practice, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.

The amendments, ranging from full legalisation to strict prohibition, were to be discussed and a free vote allowed. Up to now assisted suicide has been a grey area in German law.

“In view of the extensive way assisted suicide is being marketed”, it was imperative to outlaw organisations that offered it to their members, Cardinal Lehmann told news agency KNA last weekend. The right to self-determination was overemphasised today, he said.

n In Canada, the Archbishop of Ottawa, Terrence Prendergast, and a coalition of 50 Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups have asked the new Government to initiate a national conversation leading to a health care system focused on affirming life and limiting the circumstances where a person might choose to seek medically assisted suicide, writes Peter Kavanagh. The Government has until 6 February to draft laws to replace those struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year.