Here is a link to a press release from the European Centre for Law and Justice on a recent decision from the European Court of Human Rights on assisted suicide. http://www.eclj.org/Releases/Read.aspx?GUID=f47f9a82-9459-4a51-9c4d-eb3db0ff3cf3&s=eur The decision rejected the claim of a man who claimed a right to obtain a lethal drug without a prescription, as Swiss law requires.
Here is the conclusion of the release–
“Thus, in spite of the still problematic recognition of a sort of right to suicide, a peculiar an disputable extension of the right to private life, the Court doesn’t endorse the allegations of the applicant according to which the State would have a positive obligation to take measures allowing for a rapid and painless suicide. On the contrary, under Article 2 which guaranteed the right to life, the State must ensure the protection of the life of people under its jurisdiction. Even when assisted suicide is allowed, as in Switzerland, the State must prevent abuse in the use of this faculty because of his obligation to protect life.”
Richard M.