Swiss voters reject ban on assisted suicide

Swiss voters reject ban on assisted suicide

2011-05-16 01:24:22 GMT+7 (ICT)

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND (BNO NEWS) -- People in Zurich, Switzerland, on Sunday voted in favor of continuing to allow assisted suicide for foreigners.

Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper reported that 78.4 per cent of voters rejected the initiative to restrict the so-called suicide tourism. The bill required a person to live at least one year in Zurich in order to have access to assisted suicide.

Meanwhile, a national ban on assisted suicide proposed by conservative parties was also rejected by 84.48 percent of the voters.

Bernhard Sutter, vice president of the advocacy organization Exit, said they were pleased that "religious fundamentalists" didn't have any success. He added that the results were a clear endorsement of individual self-determination.

According to Swiss law, it is legal to assist a person to commit suicide only if a helper has no vested interest in the death. About 200 people commit assisted suicide each year in Zurich.

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