The Austrian Government has presented its regulation on assisted suicide, which plans to allow people suffering from a terminal illness to apply for it from the year 2022, excluding minors.
If a qualifying person decides to opt for assisted suicide, your case should be reviewed by two doctors, and will be evaluated for a period of 12 weeks before making a final decision, according to the Austrian public channel ORF, which indicates that this period can be reduced to two weeks if the patient has only a few weeks to live.
Active euthanasia will continue to be penalized
If approved, the patient will be able to acquire a lethal drug from a pharmacy. It must be the patient himself who administers the medicine himself, since active euthanasia will continue to be penalized in the country.
The regulation on assisted suicide, which has been presented jointly by the ministries of Justice, Health and Constitutional Affairs, was a necessity since the Austrian Constitutional Court decided to decriminalize it by the end of this year.
several religious and conservative organizations had lobbied for the authorities to establish legal guarantees and prevent abuses, since, without regulation, any form of assisted suicide would have been allowed as of next year.
The Government has also emphasized that no health professional or pharmacy will be obliged to offer assisted suicide. The new law, which has yet to be approved by Parliament, is scheduled to enter into force on January 1, 2022.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
