SZ: Ms. Breit-Keßler, you often meet the Kessler twins at social events. If they approached you with the desire to die together in old age, what would your answer be?
Susanne Breit-Keßler: I’ll listen first. How they feel, what moves them. What they fear, they may also hope and desire. Only when you have heard what happened to others can you speak for yourself. I wanted to work with these two extraordinary artists to find a way to find a life worth living again – even when it brings challenges and hardships.
It’s not humans who decide when to go, but God?
I would love it if we could make basic Christian insight make more sense. For example, it is good to confidently live the life that has been given to you to the end, through all possible depths – and in the end to trustfully surrender it back into God’s hands. It means being able to allow death. When the best medicine can no longer cure, our task is not to artificially prolong death, but to accompany the person until their last breath in a palliative, pain-relieving and compassionate manner.
When I was very young, I lost my parents six years apart from cancer. Accompanied by me, they walked to the end. Despite all the pain, we still had such precious moments. I’m happy for everyone. Then, at the age of 29, I myself contracted a rare disease with a two percent chance of survival. Here too I am grateful that I can continue even though the prospects are bad. This has been going on for 42 years. My hope is that I can also wait until I am called at a later date.
:What is the legal situation regarding assisted suicide?
The Kessler twins died with outside assistance. This has been permitted for several years, but is largely unregulated. A law is overdue – especially as the number of cases rises.
That Federal Constitutional Court has decided that self-determination over the end of one’s life is part of the human personality.
The court linked self-determination to human dignity and autonomy. Additionally, the decree establishes the right for all citizens of any age, in any life situation and with any motive to have the option of receiving assistance in committing suicide. But death, like life, is a social event; it occurs in the context of a large community. It is important to understand self-determination not only in the context of the individual, but also its impact on others. Self-determination and responsibility for each other requires a balance that is truly healing. Not only those who left, but also those who were left behind.
You represent a minority opinion on the Bavarian Ethics Council regarding assisted suicide. Can you understand the different attitudes of your colleagues on the Ethics Board?
A majority of the Ethics Council members proposed state-regulated counseling and assistance services for people who are terminally ill, suffering from unbearable pain or other severe symptoms, or on the path to irreversible death. Otherwise, according to the majority, there is a risk of practices that endanger the lives of these very vulnerable people. The minority group I belong to opposes such state regulations for fear that it will normalize assisted suicide and cause a change in values and consciousness throughout society.
We live in a time where many people are absolute about their own opinions. It gets us nowhere. In a dilemma situation, we must struggle together to make a decision – with arguments. We did just that and, despite all the differences, we also discovered important similarities. This is a living democracy: surviving differences and often realizing that there is more that unites us than divides us. It is important for all of us, albeit in different ways, to protect the right to self-determination and prevent suicide through help and support. I respect the reasonable stance of the majority.
The twin brothers are afraid that one of them will be left alone in old age. In an interview, Alice and Ellen Kessler said it would be a “huge suffering.” It sounds even sadder if you consider that as successful artists they are well off, have lots of social contacts and also money, for example for good treatment.
It is important for us to look back on age and its impact, not only in terms of experience and wisdom, but also in terms of limitations. How is age viewed and valued today? This society is very attached to the utopia of fitness, beauty and eternal youth. We need role modelwhich exemplifies what it means to grow old – with everything that comes with it, including charm, vibrancy and beauty.
And we need a greater commitment to intensive suicide prevention. Unfortunately, federal preemption legislation setting sound framework conditions and binding goals is still a long time away. The hospice movement’s motto is to support quality of life even in difficult times. So: promote living in old age structurally, collectively and individually, rather than abolishing old age when it becomes difficult. My motto: fight harder to live than to open the door to death.
:Good ending?
The self-chosen deaths of the Kessler twins demonstrate the dilemma at the end of life: faith and ethical principles may be a helpful foundation, but inattention and fear of suffering make it difficult to find the right path.
Most people who choose this form of assisted dying at the German Society for Humane Dying, for example, are aged 80 to 90 years. Our society is aging, but at the same time, estimates regarding nursing staff numbers and retirement rates are also bleak. As a pastor, how do you allay people’s fear of old age, which may be caused by illness or poverty or loneliness?
First of all, you have to listen again and let yourself be told what really moves people, what they really fear. From here, we can talk together to find ways out of our fears and consider what possibilities there are for living well and with loving support – even in difficult times.
However, it is the duty of society as a whole to ensure that seniors do not experience shortages or obtain affordable housing. This is simply unspeakable! We need to ensure that nurses and what they do are valued more and not just applauded in emergency situations. Pay plays an important role in this, as do working time arrangements that allow for human contact with those who need care, that ensure adequate rest time and that provide professional supervision, advice and support to carers. This will be dignity-centred care – for both caregivers and those cared for.
There has been a steady increase in assisted suicide cases. Likewise, offers from clubs that offer this. Have suicide assistants ever asked you for advice during a crisis of conscience?
I met a Dutch doctor at a conference who told me he had “helped” more than 3,000 people die. He couldn’t take it anymore and wanted to get off the “death carousel”. Then he did that.
And relatives of people who want to use or have used euthanasia?
I think of a woman who participated in her father’s assisted suicide along with her family. He was the only one who was against it, but he still didn’t want to leave his father alone in his final moments. The medicine he ordered from a well-known company and took it himself turned out not to work well. According to him, the suffering lasted for twelve hours. Her daughter suffered trauma as a result of this experience and subsequently required therapy and pastoral support. Of course, priests are there for relatives, even and especially after a suicide – without any moral condemnation. Empathy is also needed here: being there, listening, talking to each other. Those who defend life leave no one alone.
Editor’s Note: We typically do not report suicides. The reason is the high rate of impersonation after each report of suicide. If you feel affected by suicidal thoughts, please immediately contact the telephone counseling service ( www.telefonseelsorge.de ). On the free hotline 0800-1110111 or 0800-1110222 you can get help from advisors who have been able to show a way out of difficult situations in many cases.
