Fed: Euthanasia laws would have stopped suicide - Nitschke=2

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Fed: Euthanasia laws would have stopped suicide - Nitschke=2

Ruth had been planning her death for some time, Dr Nitschke said.

"She's had a long history of planning this, she watched her own deterioration as shesaw it," he said.

"She certainly wouldn't have been described as terminally ill, but she was certainlya person who was finding the difficulties associated with failing vision and other variousproblems to be more and more of an issue with her.

"And she decided at a certain point that now was the right time and it was a time whenshe could still manage it herself... she knew that if she left it much longer she wouldhave required help and ... that would have exposed those people to very severe legal risk."

Dr Nitschke said Ruth's life revolved around reading and her loss of vision was a majorissue that also hampered her independence.

"She also makes the point that if you lose your sight, it's very hard to effectivelyend your life.

"We talked a lot, she asked a lot of specific questions, she was a person who was wellorganised, she had planned this issue, she had acquired drugs, she asked me about thosedrugs, what the effects of them and consumption of them was likely to be."

Ruth's passing comes in the wake of a series of suicides linked to Dr Nitschke.

In recent weeks Perth woman Lisette Nigot and Bundaberg couple Sydney and MarjorieCroft consulted Dr Nitschke although they were not terminally ill.

Right to Life Association president Margaret Tighe said it was time the whistle wasblown on the doctor.

"He clearly is assisting people to commit suicide and I think it's high time the authoritiesstepped in and high time the whistle was blown on Dr Nitschke," she said on Seven Sunrise.

AAP sal/sp

KEYWORD: DIE LEAD 2 SYDNEY