Court rules Australian quadriplegic man has right to die

AN Australian judge ruled yesterday that a quadriplegic man who says he cannot “undertake any basic human functions” has the right to direct a nursing home to stop feeding him and allow him to die.

The case sheds light on a grey legal area in Australia; patients have a lawful right to refuse lifesaving treatment but helping another to commit suicide is a crime punishable by a life prison sentence.

Chief Justice Wayne Martin told the Western Australia state Supreme Court that the staff and owner of the Perth nursing home caring for 49-year-old Christian Rossiter would not be held criminally liable if any of them withdrew his feeding tube according to his instructions.