Regulating assisted suicide stirs debate in Switzerland

Oct 29, 2009, 18:56 GMT

Geneva - In a country known for having masses of rules and regulations, one crucial aspect of life in Switzerland has managed to slide into a grey zone for years. But now, the government wants to tighten the reins around assisted suicide.

Organizations that offer the service insist people have the 'right to die with dignity,' and that those with crippling illnesses or painful fatal diseases should be able to decide when their time has come.

However, a new proposal this week by the Swiss Federal Council - the executive branch of government - would seek to regulate the clinics, in a move also likely to make it harder for foreigners to use the services.

Personal liberties are treated with great reverence in the Alpine confederation. As such, the government says the suggested rules are meant to give a framework to a previously unregulated practise.

'The Federal Council does not wish to take anything away from the current, liberal legislation, which permits someone to assist a suicide, provided they are not motivated by their own interests,' the government said.

But it added that it would prevent the clinics from becoming profit-driven businesses.

A Justice Ministry official commented that the regulation would only affect organized assisted suicide. Private individuals could still altruistically aid their willing loved ones.

The council's regulations for clinics would 'also ensure that assisted suicide is available to terminally ill patients only, remaining closed to those with a chronic or mental illness.'

This point has the clinics concerned, as they said people with diseases like multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's would be denied clinical assistance.

'The (government) is essentially promoting suicide options whereby the suicidal throw themselves onto train tracks or off high bridges or use other unsatisfactory and inhumane methods,' said Dignitas, a leading assisted-dying clinic in Switzerland, in a press statement.

Professor Brigitte Tag, an expert on the matter at the University of Zurich, noted that passive euthanasia would still be allowed for those with serious diseases.

People may leave a will saying they wish to be given sleeping drugs and pain killers, and then simply be disconnected from the feeding mechanisms they need for sustenance.

The proposed regulations of the government would require that 'the suicidal person must freely declare their wish to die, and must have given long and proper consideration to their decision,' and be offered alternatives, such as palliative care, the council said.

Also, the changes would include a requirement that two independent doctors declare the suicidal person has the legal capacity to make the decision and that the individual suffers from a 'physical illness that is incurable and will result in death within a short period.'

The University of Zurich's Tag noted that questions over defining this sentence would likely lead to discussion.

Regulation would also make 'suicide tourism' more difficult, as people coming from abroad would need to spend more time in Switzerland, over a longer period, before becoming eligible for the service.

Almost a third of the 400 or so assisted suicides in Switzerland each year are foreigners, mostly British and German citizens, as their governments ban the practice.

The regulations might have an upside for the clinics, however.

'If the proposed regulation becomes law, then the organizations can say 'what we do is allowed, so we want our own houses and clinics,'' said Tag. 'So, I think, that if this becomes law, they will have space to act.'

Dignitas has trouble securing a permanent place of operations, primarily because many people are queasy about letting a clinic operate too close to their homes.

However, if the clinic is no longer operating in a grey zone, it can demand rights.

The government has also offered to ban the practice outright. However, observers say the Swiss would likely be against that, meaning the regulations are the more likely path.

The proposals will be debated until March at all levels of Swiss society before a law is sent to parliament for debate. Under the confederation's direct democracy rules, a public referendum can be held on any changes to existing law.