The lovely folks over at Swiss media are sharing some interesting news. It looks like the Federal Statistical Office says that 999 people died by assisted suicide at the Exit and Dignitas suicide clinics in 2015. That’s a 26% increase from the year before and two and a half times as many as five years before.
In October Swissinfo.ch news reported:
The Federal Statistical Office reports that in 2014 Switzerland saw 742 cases of assisted suicide, more than 2.5 times as many as five years previously. In the latest statistics, assisted suicide accounted for 1.2% of all deaths in Switzerland that year.
Men and women were nearly equally represented in the assisted suicide numbers, with ten out of 100,000 men and nine out of 100,000 women choosing to die in that way when spread out over Switzerland’s resident population.
In 42% of cases, assisted suicides followed illnesses caused by cancer. Neurodegenerative disorders led to 14% of assisted suicides, followed by cardiovascular illnesses at 11% and musculoskeletal maladies at 10%. …
Death is usually induced through a lethal dose of barbiturates that has been prescribed by a doctor. Ingestion of the poison, whether by drinking it or through the use of intravenous drips or stomach tubes, must be carried out by the person wanting to die.
The report was released recently, but the data is not new. The Exit suicide clinic said that 782 people died by assisted suicide in 2015. Most of them were women. In May 2014, the Exit suicide clinic started helping healthy elderly people who were in pain. This change led to more assisted deaths.
A Swiss study in 2014 found that 16% of people who chose assisted suicide at Swiss clinics did not have an underlying illness.
In April 2013, Pietro D’Amico, a 62-year-old Italian magistrate, died by assisted suicide at a clinic in Basel, Switzerland. Tests showed that his initial diagnosis was wrong.
In February 2014, Oriella Cazzanello, an 85-year-old woman in good health, also chose assisted suicide at a Swiss clinic. In a letter to her family, she expressed dissatisfaction with her appearance.
In August 2015, a mentally depressed but otherwise healthy British woman opted for assisted suicide in Switzerland.
As more people accept assisted suicide, more people choose it and the reasons for doing so become more varied.
Daniel Miller is responsible for nearly all of National Right to Life News' political writing.
With the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, Daniel Miller developed a deep obsession with U.S. politics that has never let go of the political scientist. Whether it's the election of Joe Biden, the midterm elections in Congress, the abortion rights debate in the Supreme Court or the mudslinging in the primaries - Daniel Miller is happy to stay up late for you.
Daniel was born and raised in New York. After living in China, working for a news agency and another stint at a major news network, he now lives in Arizona with his two daughters.
