Threat of termination

Some care homes refuse passive euthanasia

According to the Austrian Ombudsman Board, some nursing homes prohibit passive euthanasia in their house rules (symbolic image).

(Bild: stocl,adobe.com - pixel-shot.com (Leonid Yastremskiy))

Several nursing home operators are said to prohibit their residents from making use of assisted suicide in their house rules. According to a report, the Austrian Ombudsman Board discovered this during unannounced visits. In principle, passive euthanasia is unpunishable in Austria.

According to the Ombudsman Board, the operators concerned threaten to terminate their residents' contracts if they are caught preparing for euthanasia. Some care home operators are also likely to have prohibited their staff from advising residents about legal options on request. Specific names are not mentioned in the report, but according to "profil", these could be denominational facilities.

Residents who wish to die must be able to discuss this and obtain information.

Menschenrechtsbeirat der Volksanwaltschaft

Expert opinion: "Duties of tolerance"
The Austrian Ombudsman Board commissioned an expert opinion from its Human Rights Advisory Council, which came to the conclusion in December 2023 that the operators did not have a duty to cooperate, but that they did have a "duty to tolerate the rights enshrined in the law". Residents who wish to die "must be able to discuss this and obtain information, they must also be able to exercise the rights and assistance enshrined in the right to a dignified death in the facility in which they live".

The passages in the care home regulations that prohibit euthanasia are "null and void". Operators are not free to threaten to terminate contracts. Residents are also "dependent on receiving all information directly at the facility due to a lack of mobility".

Law provides for informative discussions
According to the law, people who are permanently seriously or terminally ill and wish to make use of assisted suicide can draw up a dying will. For this purpose, informed consent discussions with doctors are mandatory. Two doctors must independently confirm that the person wishing to die is capable of making a decision and wishes to end their life voluntarily. One of them must have completed palliative medical training.