The Swiss are thinking of liberalizing their liberal legislation on assisted suicide. At the moment, assisted suicide is legal so long as the helper is motivated by altruism, although the legality of helping people who are not terminally ill is unclear. As a result a number of organisations have sprung up to help people end their lives. So many people come from other countries that some Swiss fret about “death tourism”. Hence there have been proposals at least to limit assisted suicide to terminal cases.

However, Justice Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf is thinking of extending the scope of assisted suicide rather than reducing it. She told the Swiss newspaper Sonntags Zeitung that “we want assisted suicide not only for the terminally ill, but others as well… We cannot simply exclude the chronically ill from assisted suicide. It should be permitted under certain conditions.” She plans to present new proposals to the parliament. ~ Swissinfo, Aug 8;