Patients in Austria should be allowed to end their lives with the help of others, the Austrian Constitutional Court stated, lifting the ban on assisted suicide.
Taking someone’s life at their request should be illegal, the court emphasized in Friday’s ruling.
Austria’s criminal law has so far said that anyone who makes another person take his own life “or helps him do so” could be punished with imprisonment from six months to five years.
The court ruled that the words “or help him do so” are unconstitutional and must be removed from the law next year.
The wording is contrary to the right to self-determination because it prohibits all forms of assistance in all circumstances, the judges said.
Free decision
The free decision to take one’s own life must be respected, they stated.
The rest of the statutory provisions were maintained.
However, what the legislation will look like when parts of the provision are deleted at the end of 2021 remains unclear.
The court asked the country’s legislature to take action and introduce measures to prevent the law from being abused. They must ensure that “the person affected does not make the decision to take his life under the influence of third parties,” the ruling states.
Several people, including two terminally ill citizens and a doctor, brought the case to court.
The Austrian government, which consists of the conservative ÖVP and the Greens, defended the current legislation.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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