Doctor Admits Illegally Assisting In Man's Suicide
By Dave
Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
December 22, 2006
ROME, ITALY--The
assisted suicide of a man with muscular dystrophy has touched off renewed
debate over the practice, which is illegal in Italy.
Sixty-year-old Piergiorgio Welby died late Wednesday after Dr. Mario
Riccio, an anesthetist, gave him an injection consisting of 'a cocktail of
sedatives', and then removed the respirator that had kept him alive for nearly
ten years.
Welby's situation was very familiar to Italians. He wrote a book
entitled "Let Me Die", and made numerous television appearances in a crusade to
change Italy's laws, which carry a sentence of up to 15 years for helping a
person commit suicide.
Riccio told Reuters news service that he knew the risk of prosecution
when he decided to assist Welby in killing himself.
"If I am incriminated, I hope to be able to then demonstrate my
reasoning," he said.
By Friday, prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into
Welby's death.
Catholic Church officials and many politicians were quick to condemn
Riccio's actions, while supporters of legalizing assisted suicide called him a
hero.
Many disability rights groups around the world have condemned efforts to
make assisted suicide legal, pointing out that many who have died from the
practice in countries where it is legal were not in the end stages of terminal
illness, but had physical or mental disabilities and were in crises. Some have
argued that such laws put people with disabilities at greater risk of
euthanasia or 'mercy killing', because of the low value society already places
on their lives.
Related:
"Italy doctor unplugged euthanasia man's respirator"
(Reuters via Swiss Broadcasting Corporation)
http://www.inclusiondaily.com/news/06/red/1222a.htm
"Rome
prosecutors have opened case on the death of Italian who asked to die"
(Associated Press via CBC News)
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/061222/w122233A.html
---
Reproduced here under special arrangement
with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
© Copyright 2006 Inonit
Publishing. Please do not reprint, publish or distribute without
permission. |
