The Australian doctor Philip Nitschke, founder of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International’, is today running a series of seminars in Holborn, including one on ‘DIY death’.
Nitschke is a well-known lobbyist for the ‘right to die’ movement and has previously courted controversy by giving well publicised ‘how to commit suicide’ classes in Australia and New Zealand. In a 2001 interview on ‘National Review Online’ Nitschke was asked who would qualify for access to his ‘suicide pill’. He replied that ‘all people qualify, not just those with the training, knowledge or resources to find out how to “give away” their life and someone needs to provide this knowledge training or resource necessary to anyone who wants it, including the depressed, the elderly, bereaved, the troubled teen’.
This workshop is clearly directed at the obtaining, supply and use of medications and other methods by which to commit suicide and thereby involves possible breaches of the Suicide Act 1961.
Simon Hopkins from the ProLife Alliance said:
“Dr Philip Nitschke represents a grave threat to the most vulnerable members of our society and it is to be hoped that the only effect of his well publicised seminar in London will be to awaken people to the awful realities of legalising assisted suicide. Dr Nitschke takes assisted suicide to its logical conclusion where everybody has a right to help in taking their own life whatever their reason. The reality is that any efforts to liberalise the present law on assisted suicide will eventually follow the same path as can already be seen in the Netherlands.
“This workshop is clearly directed at the obtaining, supply and use of medications and other methods by which to commit suicide and thereby involves possible breaches of the Suicide Act 1961. We would call for the police to take this matter very seriously and investigate the seminar in case it involves possible breaches of the law.”
NOTE TO EDITORS
1. The Suicide Act 1961 states that it is an offence to encourage or assist suicide and provides the maximum penalty of 14 years reflecting the seriousness of the offence. From the 1 February 2010 it has been amended by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 in order to tighten up the law against the promotion of suicide by means of the internet or publications. The Act stipulates that it is also an offence where a ‘suspect’ commits an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide or the attempted suicide of another person.
2. To access the Sky coverage, which includes an interview with ProLife chairman Dominica Roberts, click on the following link:
