Scottish Catholic Observer

Pro-life campaigners have called on Police Scotland to investigate an Edinburgh Fringe show at which an Australian doctor is to demonstrate a euthanasia device intended to allow people to take their own lives.

In the Dicing with Dr Death shows from August 6-29, euthanasia campaigner Dr Philip Nitschke, 67, will allow audience members to try a device that will administer non-lethal nitrogen gas through nasal prongs or a facemask. The device can also be used to administer a fatal mix of carbon monoxide and nitrogen gases. The shows are listed on the Fringe website as PG rated.

Upon entering the UK, the doctor (above) was questioned under caution by the Metropolitan Police. Gordon Macdonald, a spokesman for Care Not Killing, said the Crown Office and the police should be taking a close look at what is being said at the show. John Deighan, chief executive officer for The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children Scotland and former parliamentary officer for Scotland’s bishops, also said it is a matter the police should be looking at.

“I think a lot of times these people are coming hoping there will be a bit of a demonstration—they love a bit of fuss around them to promote their cause,” he said. “But this guy is promoting material that is very dangerous and illegal that could endanger the lives of vulnerable people. He should be stopped.”

Nicknamed ‘Dr Death, Dr Nitschke runs the euthanasia group Exit International. Last year, the Medical Board of Australia suspended his medical license; a decision later overturned by the Northern Territory Supreme Court.

During the Fringe, Dr Nitschke will be demonstrating an updated version of the ‘Deliverance’ machine that was used to end the lives of four people in the 1990s using intravenous drugs. He says the move to gas makes his new ‘Destiny’ machine much easier to use as inserting IV tubes is no longer required.

“Obviously we have to travel quite close to the edge, certainly the edge of the law, if not necessarily the edge of good taste,” Dr Nitschke, said about the event, over which he has been seeking legal advice here in Scotland where MSPs recently rejected a bill to legalise assisted suicide.

—Dicing with Dr Death is being staged at Edinburgh Fringe venue Just the Tonic at The Caves at 6.10pm on Aug 6-17, 19-29. For more information, visit https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/dicing-with-dr-death
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