Nitschke calls for changes after couple's death

Description: [of the article from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation]

The report begins: The right-to-die campaigner Phillip Nitschke says the deaths of a Perth couple is a wake up call for the State Government to change WA's euthanasia laws. The bodies of 66-year-old John Carl Stewart and his 61-year-old terminally ill wife Jennifer Anne Stewart were found on Monday by their daughter in their Sawyers Valley home.

Dr Nitschke has confirmed the pair were members of his euthanasia group, Exit International. Police are investigating whether Mr Stewart played a role in his wife's death.

Dr Nitschke says family members who assist with suicide face life imprisonment under WA's current euthanasia laws. "A person might decide to end their life in fear of the legal consequences given the savage penalties for assisting a suicide," he said. "If that's the case, of course then it will certainly draw attention to why we need better legislation."

Dr Nitschke says it is one of the reasons the State Government needs to amend existing legislation. "It's a very wise idea to pass legislation so that people don't find themselves having to step outside the law."

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

Links:

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  • http://tinyurl.com/38zkd3b

  • http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/30/2940771.htm

    Also see:

  • Australia: Couple sought suicide info: Nitschke [The Sydney Morning Herald]
    http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/couple-sought-suicide-info-nitschke-20100630-zl3n.html

    A terminally-ill woman and her husband found dead in their home near Perth had contacted Dr Philip Nitschke's assisted suicide group three years ago, the right-to-die campaigner says. The bodies of Jennifer Anne Stewart, 61 and her 66-year-old husband John were discovered on Monday by a family member in their home in Sawyer's Valley, 40km east of Perth. Ms Stewart was terminally ill with cancer and it is believed she and her husband made a suicide pact.

    Dr Nitschke said the couple had contacted the organisation he founded, Exit International, in February 2007 to seek information. The organisation provides information and advocacy on assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia.

    Dr Nitschke said the situation demonstrated a need for legislation which would allow terminally ill people the right to die and provide legal immunity to anyone who assisted. "We've got a situation here of a person who's seriously ill, in fact close to death, who effectively needs assistance to end their life," he told AAP on Wednesday. "For what I know of the issue, in Western Australia the person who provided that assistance would be looking at seriously legal penalties including life imprisonment."

  • Australia: Euthanasia query in deaths probe [Yahoo News]
    http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/7479023/euthanasia-query-in-deaths-probe/
    The story begins: UPDATE: Police are investigating whether a Sawyers Valley man helped his terminally ill wife die before taking his own life. The couple, John, 66, and Jennifer Stewart, 61, were found by their daughter at the Kirkstall Way home about 9.30am yesterday.

    Major crime squad detectives and forensic experts were last night investigating whether the woman's husband had increased his wife's medication to assist with her death. They are also investigating whether he then took enough of the medication to kill himself. Toxicology tests to confirm the theory could take days to prepare.

    It is understood a note about the deaths was found at the house, but it is not known who wrote it or what was in the letter. Police will also investigate whether the couple formed a pact to take their lives together, and also whether the woman died from her illness, driving her husband to take his own life.

    Later in the report: Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke told The West Australian if the deaths were as they seemed it was another sad example of the desperation in situations where there was a terminal illness. "In some cases, one partner does not want to be without the other person so they enter a pact," he said. "In others, one may provide assistance for the other to die peacefully." Dr Nitschke said in WA, even those acting out of compassion to help a loved one could then face a life jail term.

Source:

"Nitschke calls for changes after couple's death". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Updated June 30, 2010 11:15:00. <www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/30/2940771.htm>. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ABC Ultimo Centre, 700 Harris Street, Ultimo NSW 2007, GPO Box 9994, Sydney NSW 2001.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • assisted suicide

  • euthanasia

  • Philip Nitschke

  • Exit International

  • Western Australia

  • Australia

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201006307243.
Mailed: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 14:15:13 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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