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Euthanasia - for or against: Russians should decide via referendum, says health minister

The health minister noted that other ways to ease a person’s suffering were legalized in Russia

MOSCOW, October 28. /TASS/. The whole nation should decide on the possibility of permitting euthanasia countrywide, Russian Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Monday on the Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station.

"It is a very complex issue which concerns each person’s fundamental right to life, and a referendum determines it in countries, since various nations have different chief religions. <...> I will not forecast the way the issue will be resolved specifically in our country. The population itself must decide whether it is ready to pursue this or not," she said.

Skvortsova noted that other ways to ease a person’s suffering were legalized in Russia. The issue chiefly concerns opioids, the use of which was considerably simplified in Russia over the past few years.