Australia's "Dr Death" plans euthanasia ship

Australia's "Dr Death" plans euthanasia ship
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Sydney, May 31: Australia's "Dr Death" said on Wednesday he plans to bypass national law by performing euthanasia on a ship anchored in international waters. Philip Nitschke, who has assisted in the deaths of four people, told Australian reporters in London that he wanted to use a hospice-equipped ship to deliver "peaceful deaths."

He said he had sought legal advice on operating the vessel outside Australia's territorial waters and was in discussion with "interested parties." "I want to see if I can operate a vessel outside the 200 mile (320 km) international shipping limit and take advantage of international law to allow patients access to a peaceful death," he said.

"I believe one is bound by the conventions of the nation under which the ship is registered, so it will not be simple, but I am seriously looking at the possibilities." If a legal loophole, and financial backing are found it would be the first ship-delivered euthanasia service in the world.

Nitschke said demand would be great as around 200 people had contacted him seeking assistance for their suicides in the past 18 months. He was in London to display his "Death Machine" at the Science Museum. Consisting of a computer, a case, a syringe and tubes, the machine was originally used in Darwin in 1996 by Bob Dent, the first man in the world to die under legally sanctioned euthanasia following the introduction of legislation in the Northern Territory.

Under the law, two doctors had to confirm a patient was terminally ill and suffering unbearable pain before life could be ended. A psychiatrist had to confirm the patient was not suffering from treatable clinical depression. Three others took advantage of the law before it was overridden in a conscience vote by Australia's upper house, the Senate, following strong condemnation by opponents including church leaders and Aborigines.

Nitschke said he had reluctantly accepted the term "Death Machine" because he had "nothing better" to call it. The device had been sitting in his garden shed outside Darwin for two years. He cancelled negotiations to sell it to Sydney's Powerhouse Museum claiming political pressure from Canberra had prompted the curators to tell him it would not be displayed. "That would have been the same as burying it," he said.

The Science Museum said it had no views for or against euthanasia but recognised it was a significant issue in contemporary medicine. "Our aim in acquiring the euthanasia machine is to stimulate thoughtful and responsible public debate about the issue," the Museum said in a statement. Nitschke's machine will be displayed in a new wing of the museum, touted as the world's leading centre for presenting medical science and technology to the public.