Austria assisted suicide legalized
The Austrian National Council has voted by a large majority in favor of legalizing assisted suicide. With the exception of the right-wing populist FPÖ, all parties spoke in favor of the new regulation on assisted suicide yesterday.
Olivia Miller 
Austria assisted suicide legalized
Accordingly, permanently seriously ill or terminally ill adults can in future make use of assisted suicide. The prerequisite is that the patient be informed by two doctors, one of whom must have a qualification in palliative medicine.
In particular, they must determine whether the patient is capable of making the decision independently. In addition, a period of at least twelve weeks must be observed to ensure that the decision is not based on a temporary crisis. In the case of patients in the final stages of an illness, the period is reduced to two weeks.
The law respects human dignity, Austria's Justice Minister Alma Zadic (Green Party) said, according to the APA news agency. But she said it should also ensure that "no one chooses the path of dying when there are other options."
Hospice and palliative care is therefore to be expanded with 108 million euros. A year ago, the Austrian Constitutional Court overturned the previous ban on assisted suicide. If there had been no new regulation by the end of December, the ban would simply have expired and assisted suicide would have been possible without regulation.
