David Goodall, an ecologist for decades, had campaigned for the “right to die” in his home of Australia.
David Goodall, a scientist who argued for the “right to die,” is dead at 104 after an assisted suicide.
Goodall made headlines after announcing that he was going to Switzerland to end his life after coming to regret that he had lived so long.
Pro-euthanasia group Exit International raised money for his trip to Basel’s Life Clinic, where the trained ecologist gave a press conference Wednesday before his scheduled death on Thursday.
“At 12.30 today (10th May) Professor David Goodall, 104 years of age, died peacefully at Life Cycle, Basel, Switzerland from an infusion of Nembutal,” Exit International’s Philip Nitschke said in a statement.
Goodall, who told media he had multiple failed suicide attempts in the last year, had said that he wished to die in Australia, but was forced to go to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal under some circumstances.
Assisted suicide is illegal in New York and most of the U. S., with the exception of seven states and Washington D. C.
Goodall’s case garnered attention around the world in part because of his age and his lack of a terminal illness, which is present for many who choose assisted suicide.
Australian Medical Association president Michael Gannon told ABC that he believed it was a “dangerous” precedent to celebrate the death, and asked “What is the age at which we no longer celebrate people continuing life?”
After arriving in Switzerland, Goodall said that he chose assisted suicide because the last years of his life had not been enjoyable and added “I don’t feel that anyone else’s choice is involved. It’s my own choice to end my life… and I look forward to that.”
