Dignified Dying for Dignified Living

Every year, more than 700,000 people worldwide end their lives by suicide. The World Health Organisation estimates that for every suicide, there are at least 20 suicide attempts that do not end in death. This means it must be estimated that more than one million people survived a suicide attempt, severely psychologically and physically injured, and stigmatised by society. To reduce these high numbers a realistic and safe access to a self-determined end of life is needed because the mere feeling of having an “emergency exit” reassures the concerned ones and prevents them from lonely and risky suicides and suicide attempts. But politicians fear being held responsible for a possible increase in the number of suicides and make access to assisted suicide difficult to the point that suffering people may resort to unsafe and risky do-it-yourself suicide methods again. The evaluated data of Dignitas in Germany show that the persons concerned very well consider whether and when they want to end their life if they have a choice. Instead of imposing disproportionate safety measures for hypothetical threats to autonomy, research should first be conducted into why and how many people decide to end their lives in a self-determined manner.