Switzerland’s parliament voted against a bid to toughen controls on assisted suicide yesterday, rejecting concerns about foreigners travelling to the country to die.
Members of the lower house voted against changing the code, arguing self-regulation by right-to-die organisations such as Exit and Dignitas worked, and that the rules protected individual freedoms.
Assisted suicide has been allowed in Switzerland since 1941 if performed by a non-physician with no vested interest in the death. Euthanasia is legal only in the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and the US state of Oregon. – (Reuters)