Voters keep assisted suicide alive

“Ban on assisted suicide rejected,” leads the Neue Zürcher Zeitung after the electorate administered a slap to the Federal Democratic Union (UDF, Conservative) in a vote on “death tourism” held May 15 in the canton of Zurich. A first referendum, to prohibit assisted suicide for anyone who had lived less than one year in the canton, was rejected by 78.4 percent of voters. The second, which aimed to instruct the government to ban all forms of assisted suicide, was rejected by 84.5 percent. The motions were aimed at the Dignitas association, which every year assists hundreds of people in terminal phases of serious illnesses to end their days. “The people’s verdict reflects the broad recognition of the principle of individual self-determination and the widespread awareness even among informed church circles that assisted suicide is compatible with the Christian position,” writes the Zurich daily.