The majority of the member states of the Council of Europe still prohibit medical assistance in dying and euthanasia.

Constitutional lawyer Dániel Karsai, who has an incurable ALS disease, has no right to artificial death caused by doctors, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced on Thursday.

Dániel Karsai wants to ensure that if his condition becomes unacceptable, he can end his life with dignity, because Hungarian regulations prohibit all forms of euthanasia.

The court operating under the supervision of the Council of Europe ruled by six votes to one that the complainant's human rights were not violated in connection with the provisions on the right to respect for private and family life and the prohibition of discrimination in the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Strasbourg judges ruled that Hungary provided palliative care for Dániel Karsai,

and according to the expert evidence heard, the options available in such care would generally provide relief to patients in the applicant's situation and enable them to die peacefully. Dániel Karsai did not claim that this service was unavailable to him, they added.

It was pointed out that in the case of the applicant, possible errors could have wide-ranging social consequences and risks, and that physician-assisted death carries the risk of abuse.

Although there is a trend towards legal authorization, the majority of the member states of the Council of Europe still prohibit medical assistance in dying and euthanasia, they wrote.

The criminal prohibition of medically assisted suicide, as well as its application to those who may perform the intervention in a country that allows active euthanasia, is not disproportionate and does not violate human rights, the court's reasoning reads.

It was also announced that the need for appropriate legal measures must be constantly reviewed, taking into account the rules of medical ethics, the development of the field of healthcare and social changes.

MTI

Cover image: The European Court of Justice has decided on Karsai's submission
Source: Pixabay/Alexander Grey