Britons planning to travel to Switzerland to take advantage of its liberal assisted suicide laws face a crackdown on the practice by the Swiss government.
Swiss justice minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf yesterday unveiled proposals that will force assisted suicide centres to follow strict guidelines or risk prosecution or even ban them completely.
“As a country, we aren’t interested in attracting suicide tourism,” she said.
The new rules would require groups to exhaustively document their contact with patients.
Patients also would have to obtain two medical opinions proving their illness is incurable and likely fatal within months, and that they are capable of making an informed decision to end their lives.
A second proposal also being considered would ban organised assisted suicide completely.
The justice minister said this would be the easier option, but most likely force the practice underground.
Dignitas founder, Ludwig Minelli, branded her proposals “outdated and ”patronising“.
He said “by cutting off assisted suicide for chronically or psychologically ill people who are capable of informed choice the government will promote lonely suicides on train tracks, from high bridges and by other inhumane methods.”
According to official statistics, some 1,360 people committed suicide in Switzerland in 2007. Of the 400 who turned to assisted suicide groups for help, 132 came from abroad.
PA