After a new law banning the use of phones, faxes, email or internet to give instructions about how to commit suicide, euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke has shifted his website to New Zealand. From now on he will commute between Darwin and Auckland and may even settle there. “New Zealand is like a shining ray of liberalism over the Tasman,” he says. “We are thrilled to be able to move at least the electronic side of our communication out of Australia.”

It was not long before Dr Nitschke was the focus of controversy in his new abode. The New Zealand Veterinary Association attacked his suggestion at a suicide workshop that one option for suicide was to approach a “friendly vet” who would supply the lethal barbiturate Nembutol. “I’m disappointed to hear a medical professional making light of it,” said CEO Murray Gibb. “If a veterinarian were to dispense these products they would be hung out to dry very, very quickly.”

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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