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Euthanasia is allowed in Austria
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Euthanasia is allowed in Austria.
The previous legal ban on assisting suicide violates the right to self-determination, the Constitutional Court (VfGH) ruled on Friday in Vienna.
It is unconstitutional to forbid any kind of assistance to suicide without exception.
Killing on demand, however, remains a criminal offense.
The right to free self-determination encompasses "both the right to shape life and the right to a dignified death," said the judges.
The new regulation comes into force on January 1, 2022.
The Austrian Society for a Humane End of Life (ÖGHL) spoke of a historic breakthrough.
Austria is following suit in an international comparison, albeit with some delay.
The Catholic Church, however, was dismayed.
The euthanasia judgment was a dam break and endangered solidarity, criticized the chairman of the bishops' conference, Salzburg's Archbishop Franz Lackner.
"The natural solidarity with those seeking help in our society is fundamentally changed by this judgment," said Lackner.
Government wants to examine protective measures
Constitutional Minister Karoline Edtstadler from the ruling ÖVP said: »We will continue to ensure that nobody has to question the value of their life.
So we now have to check which legal protective measures are necessary. "
In Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court also made euthanasia possible in February after complaints from the seriously ill, euthanasia and doctors.
The right to self-determined death includes the freedom to take one's own life and to fall back on the voluntary help of third parties - this applies to everyone, not only to the terminally ill.
Four applicants had sued in Austria, including a man suffering from multiple sclerosis (56) who can no longer partake of his life without outside help, and a healthy 75-year-old who wants to use euthanasia in the event of an incurable disease.
The group of plaintiffs also includes an 80-year-old man with Parkinson's disease, and a doctor (66).
The doctor would like to assist in dying, but fears criminal and professional consequences.
In European countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, active euthanasia by the doctor is already permitted under certain conditions.
Traditionally Catholic states, which include Austria as well as Ireland and Poland, have so far adhered to the ban.
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ptz / dpa / afp