Questions about the why

Rush on euthanasia after law change

To date, 366 people have drawn up an advance directive to end their lives at a time of their own choosing with prepared medication.(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

Assisted suicide has been permitted for seriously ill people in Austria since the beginning of 2022. And the rush for these advance directives, which sanction a chosen suicide by the state, raises questions - as do cases in which it is unclear who benefits from the death of a patient.

For a long time, assisted suicide - i.e. euthanasia - was prohibited in Austria. However, since the controversial decision by the Constitutional Court, assisted suicide has been permitted under certain conditions. However, nobody would have expected that state-sanctioned suicide would be so popular.