By Liz Townsend
Since 1999, almost 200 foreigners have traveled to Switzerland to die in assisted suicide, part of a practice known as "suicide tourism." Switzerland has some of the most permissive euthanasia laws in the world, allowing doctors to provide lethal drugs as long as the patient administers them.
The pro-euthanasia group Dignitas, which has an office in Zurich, announced in 1999 that it would "help" foreigners who come to Switzerland to die. In 2000, 3 killed themselves, and the official numbers have continued to rise each year: 27 in 2001, 55 in 2002, and 91 in 2003, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
The "suicide tourists" do not have to be terminally ill to die in Switzerland. In 2003 a mentally ill brother and sister from France, ages 29 and 31, killed themselves legally, according to AFP. Two British nationals, Robert Stokes, 59, and his 53-year-old wife Jennifer, died last April with the "help" of Dignitas, even though they were not terminally ill, the Daily Post reported.
Another British "suicide tourist" was Reg Crew, 74, who had motor neuron disease, according to the Daily Post. Crew traveled to Switzerland in January 2003 and paid Dignitas £46 (about $84) for a fatal dose of barbiturates. He died on January 20.
Euthanasia supporters are now urging British officials to pass a law closer to Switzerland's. Crew's widow, Win, sent a letter to Home Secretary David Blunkett asking for his support for legalized euthanasia, the Daily Post reported.
Blunkett opened the door to such a law by telling the Daily Post this January, "Personally, I have not been in favour, but I am persuadable. We would need to have safeguards, over a period of time, to ensure individuals have not been influenced or persuaded to do it [commit suicide] by those around them." The British House of Lords has launched an inquiry into a proposed Patient Assisted Dying Bill.
Some in Switzerland are beginning to call for more restrictions on assisted suicide to stop the tourist trade. Public prosecutor Andreas Brunner announced he is preparing legislation on the local level that would ban groups such as Dignitas from helping foreigners commit suicide in Zurich.
"People are only here for one day before they die," Brunner told the news agency Swissinfo. "We know nothing about them and we can't say they had a long-term desire to end their lives."
Brunner's legislation would restrict assisted suicide to Swiss residents and regulate the activities of euthanasia organizations in the Zurich area, according to Swissinfo.
However, other Swiss officials have expressed support for euthanasia or declined to seek changes in the law. The Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), which traditionally has spoken out against all forms of euthanasia, revised its medical guidelines in February to allow doctors to prescribe lethal drugs. SAMS continued to discourage active euthanasia, where a doctor would physically cause the patient's death.
"We still state that assisted suicide is not part of normal medical practice, but we add that there are situations where assisted suicide can be comprehensible," Werner Stauffacher, SAMS president, told Swissinfo. "So it's no longer a complete 'no.'"
On the national level, Justice Minister Christoph Blocher announced that euthanasia regulations would not be considered in the current parliament, which runs until 2007, according to AFP.
The support of euthanasia by many in Europe is in stark contrast to the words of comfort given by Pope John Paul II on February 11, designated as World Day of the Sick. Instead of advocating death for those suffering illness or disability, the pope spoke of the value of all human life.
"I would like to remind you that human existence is always a gift of God, even when it is marked by physical sufferings of all kinds; a 'gift' to be valued by the Church and by the world," the pope said during the February 11 general audience. "The World Day of the Sick is a strong call to rediscover the important presence of those who suffer in the Christian community, and to increasingly value their precious contribution."