Swiss to crack down on assisted-suicide groups

Published on Wednesday 28 October 2009 21:20

THE Swiss government is to restrict or even ban groups such as Dignitas, in an effort to cut down on "suicide tourism".

Scores of foreigners travel to Switzerland every year to end their lives with the help of such groups, taking advantage of its comparatively liberal laws on assisted suicide.

But the justice minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, said: "As a country, we aren't interested in attracting suicide tourism."

Under the government plan, groups would have to follow strict guidelines or risk prosecution. They would have exhaustively to document contact with patients, while patients would have to obtain two medical opinions proving their illness was incurable and probably fatal within months, and that they were capable of making an informed decision to end their lives. "It won't be possible in future for someone to cross the border and commit suicide a few days later," the minister said.

She didn't specify how long the waiting period would be, saying this would depend on the individual case.

Dignitas, one of Switzerland's four assisted-suicide groups, called the proposals "outdated" and "patronising".