TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Doctor-Aided Suicide Fuels German Debate

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: July 4, 2008

BERLIN - BERLIN - Bettina Schardt knew that the combination of drugs she drank in the living room of her home in Wuerzburg, Germany, last week would kill her, and she died alone.

But this was no ordinary suicide. A German doctor told her just the right formula of antimalarial drugs and tranquilizers she needed to commit suicide painlessly - and he set up a camera to film her death.

The case has set off a firestorm in Berlin not only because of the way Roger Kusch has publicized his role in the death - holding a news conference in which he played snippets of the woman's last moments - but because of the motives for her suicide.

The 79-year-old Schardt was not in chronic pain or suffering from a terminal illness. She was healthy and simply wanted to avoid moving into a nursing home.

Today, five of Germany's 16 states plan to push the federal government to tighten laws on assisted suicide. They want to make it illegal for companies to profit from teaching people how to kill themselves.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who leads the conservative Christian Democratic Union, said she opposes assisted suicide "in whatever form it comes."

But liberal politicians have cautioned against amending suicide laws too quickly.

Suicide is not illegal in Germany, nor is assisting one.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT