Nitschke's invitationto speak at a university in Northern Ireland was withdrawn because the university anticipated that he would be promoting suicide or suicide methods during his talk. A university spokeswoman said:
"The Northern Ireland Forum for Ethics in Medicine and Healthcare has withdrawn its invitation to Dr Philip Nitschke to address Forum members in a forthcoming debate. The reported views of Dr Nitschke were not deemed appropriate for this event."
It appears that infighting within the euthanasia lobby may have been responsible for the cancelation of his talk. The article in the UK Press stated:
Dr Nitschke has said he was offering people information to allow them to make choices in their best interest. However, pro-euthanasia campaign group Dignity in Dying branded his advice irresponsible and illegal.
Dr. Tony Calland, the chairman of the British Medical Associations ethics committee stated:
"doctors' organisation didn't support assisted dying. ... the lobby group recognised that there were tragic cases but maintained there were ways of using palliative care to assist people to die with dignity and the minimum of discomfort."
DUP Assembly member Jimmy Spratt said:
Dr Nitschke openly espoused the idea of suicide. He said it was expected he would provide information to students on how to put together a 'suicide kit'.
"Such information can only be to the detriment of the audience and is extremely dangerous," he added.
"For a university to host such an event, where such information is made available, would have been reckless in the extreme."
The reality is that Nitschke and the mainstream euthanasia lobby share the same philosophy and hope for identical "final goals." The only difference is that Dying in Dignity in the UK want to appear to be mainstream and attempt to work within the law and Nitschke looks for ways to go outside the law to achieve the same final goal.
Link to article from the UK Press:
http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jm2Pb2hU-jxeJijH3_F6XnfKf9zw
The issue of voluntary euthanasia and its legality is one of the most debated dilemmas of society.
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