Assisted suicide law approved in Valais
Voters in the canton of Valais have come out in favour of a controversial law regulating palliative care and assisted suicide in the region’s care homes.
The law on palliative care and the framework conditions for assisted suicide in institutions and facilities was approved by 75.8% of voters in the canton on Sunday. Turnout was almost 40%.
It means that those suffering from a serious and incurable illness or the after-effects of an accident can choose to end their lives, regardless of the institution in the canton they are staying in. These institutions, such as hospitals and care homes, will be obliged to authorise this – unlike at present.
The law sets out the conditions for the assisted suicide but also for the proper checks. In particular, it ensures that the practice is “supervised and does not lead to abuses”. Caregivers who do not wish to carry out this task may recuse themselves.
In terms of palliative care, the new legislation emphasises “the importance of this type of care in the Valais public health system” and ensures that access to it is guaranteed.
There had been much debate on the law in the run-up to the vote. While the left and centre-right Radical Party were among the supporters of assisted suicide, the rightwing Swiss People’s Party and the Catholic Church spoke out against it.
Elsewhere in Switzerland
Sunday’s result means that Valais is the latest canton, after Vaud, Neuchâtel and Geneva, to legislate specifically on assisted suicide in care homes. Canton Zurich may well be next, as the cantonal parliament approved a parliamentary initiative on the issue in May 2022.
Assisted suicide associations Exit and Dignitas welcomed the result of the Valais vote. For Dignitas, the canton has spoken out in favour of human rights. The vote thus “sends a signal to the whole of Switzerland”, Dignitas said in a statementExternal link on Sunday.
Exit saw the choiceExternal link of the Valais citizens “as a signal in favour of self-determination and respect for individual freedom”.
Swiss law tolerates assisted suicide when patients commit the act themselves and helpers have no vested interest in their death. It has been legal in the country since the 1940s.
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