Nov 10, 2010 / 03:50 am
The prospect of a television ad promoting assisted suicide is causing a stir in New Zealand. One anti-euthanasia advocate is arguing that the doctor behind the ad is preying on the depressed and the mentally troubled.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, based in Australia, is an advocate for assisted suicide in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. Last month in Canada he held a seminar at the First Unitarian Church of Toronto for about 50 people, giving them information on how to commit suicide.
Alex Schadenberg, international chairman of the Ontario-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said Nitschke has been on an international tour to promote his “suicide manual” and to explain how people may circumvent the law if they assist in a suicide.
He characterized the doctor as a “suicide predator” who searches for people and encourages or counsels them to commit suicide.