Dr Philip Nitschke, dubbed Dr. Death by British media.
Thirteen Years ago in the Northern territory of Australia a legal and lethal voluntary injection was administered to end the life of a terminally ill patient. This was carried out by Dr Philip Nitschke, the first doctor in the world to administer a doctor assisted suicide within the law. Under the Terminally Act of the Northern territory four more people voluntarily died, but a year later, in 1997, it was made illegal.
“We saw the benefits to our society when those laws were in place," Dr Nitschke said after his recent euthanasia ‘promotion’ tour of Britain. In fact considering the media circus surrounding his visit it was surprisingly easy to contact him, and his openness, such as stating the reason for going to Bournemouth is because of it’s elderly population, is perhaps his downfall.
With a strong Australian accent, “G’Day” starts our conversation, Nitschke, dubbed ‘Dr Death’ by the British media, was born in the rural south of his home country. His quite radical views, however, are far from the traditional values associated with outback folk.
“I would like to see legislation which will allow people under strict conditions, if satisfied by strict criteria, to get help to obtain a lawful end of life,” he states in a defiant, uncompromising tone.
The Australian physician runs the pro-euthanasia organization Exit International, and promotes a drug sold legally in Mexico, called Nembutal, and an “exit hood” which can be filled with a lethal amount of helium.
This open approach to suicidal methods has also left him in a wake of criticism. Dr Nitschke’s former colleague, Dr Michael Irwin, former Chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia society, spoke from Cranleigh, Surrey where he still campaigns for right-to-die causes. In the past, Dr Irwin insists they were “good friends,” but now Irwin accuses Nitschke of being “totally irresponsible.” When asked about the Australian’s tour of his home country, the doctor who now campaigns for Friends at the End attacked the easy-access style of the meetings.
“He says the information is for people who are over 50, or are seriously ill, but the information he provides, like where to get Nembutal, and also this awful process of helium gas and exit hoods, could be so easily abused.“
The former Medicial Chairman of the United Nations launched a global campaign in the 1990s with Nitschke to legalise doctor assisted-suicide for terminally ill patients. Today, they are not on speaking terms, although Dr Irwin still takes patients on trips to Switzerland and has strong pro-euthanasia beliefs.
“Where there is a mentally competent adult involved who has either a terminal illness or who is very severely disabled, in those situations I think it is essential that people have the option of a quicker exit by means of voluntary euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide.”
But, he added, in a stern, lower voice, there could be severe problems if methods promoted by Dr Nitschke are used for the incorrect reasons.
"The wrong person, someone that’s just very depressed or someone who wants to bump of their Alzheimer’s wife might get hold of this Nembutal and use it in a discreet way."
In Bournemouth, where Dr Nitschke visited just over two weeks ago, the seaside resort renowned for it’s retired population, saw a media furore more in line with the arrival of a major pop star.
At the meeting, held in the Britain’s only gay naturist hotel, Nitschke says it was “hard to say” how many people were there but it was between “50 and 100”, a broad estimate, he claims, due to the large amount of media representation. But clearly there’s an audience who want to hear what he has to say. Perhaps, however, one of the reasons there was resentment in the town, was because Dr Nitschke announced his visit was due to the “demographic,” referring to the high number of elderly residents, but, the Australian physician raises his voice at the suggestion of ‘targeting.’ In his defence, with the business plan of an Apprentice contestant, he states it would be “silly” to provide a service where people don’t want it.
The business side of the tour is what concerns Sharon Hartwell, a female chaplin in the costal town, who looks confused in her multi-faith chaplinancy in Poole as she initially overlooks her religious stance.
“I think the danger is he has some kind of financial interest in it and whenever there’s some kind of external interest, other than the exact good for a person, you’ve got to be slightly suspect.”
The religious objection is clear, euthanasia involves the help of someone else to die and the church is against this, but Mrs Hartwell was clearly intrigued.
“I didn’t go. I nearly went to it,” she says after a long hesitation, and with a frowned brow. A brief silence ensues as she looks towards her window and the farm animals in the field behind, and then, she leans forward.
"It’s a bit like putting your cat or dog down isn’t it. The other argument is that it’s quite fine to put your cat or dog down but why can’t we put people down, and if you’re a Christian I would say people are different to animals because we’ve got hopes, fears, and aspirations, whereas animals just live in the moment.”
The Chaplin describes her brother-in-law who tried to commit suicide but was caught, and is now “happy” with two children and a wife, hence the reiteration of her belief that ‘we only know how we are feeling at the moment and we don’t know what it’s going to be like in the future.’ As Mrs Hartwell continues, she shuffles uncomfortably in her swivel chair, continuing to highlight the “anxiety” and “guilt” involved when a person helps someone else die, and this, she says, is why God is there to make these hard life and death decisions for us. The bible says we are made in the image of god and therefore we are creative and are able to do all sorts of things. In contrast, the non-Christian, atheist belief, comes from a tradition where there is no God and there is no after life. After discussing this, Hartwell sits up and announces: “Who cares, who are you accountable to. Why does it matter? It all depends on you’re ethical point of view.“
Dr Nitshke said in response to the religious objection, including several highly strung negative comments from local priests around Britain, that he didn’t have a problem with people sharing different beliefs but they shouldn’t impose them on others.
“I wouldn’t want someone who has got a different moral and ethical system in place to the one I adhere to, to come along and tell me I can’t have what I want. They can do what they wish but they should let me.”
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