February 24, 2025
Swiss politicians consider tightening legal framework of assisted suicide
After the use of the Sarco capsule in the canton of Schaffhausen, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of States decided to hold hearings.
It could tighten up the law.
That was five months ago in the canton of Schaffhausen.
An American woman supported by a suicide assistance association little known in Switzerland ended her life in a capsule called ‘Sarco’ for sarcophagus.
The case caused a stir in Switzerland and a criminal investigation is ongoing.
The approach has also attracted the attention of the Council of States. Its Legal Affairs Committee has decided to hold hearings to see if the legal framework needs to be strengthened.
It was Councillor of States Heidi Z’graggen (Le Centre/Uri) who brought the subject up. ‘I think Sarco has provoked a lot of reactions in the population, including in my circle.
There has been a kind of deep concern at the idea that people could die or want to die in a machine,’ she explained on Sunday in the 7.30pm RTS programme.
A societal problem
Today in Switzerland, the legal framework is liberal: helping a third party to commit suicide is not a crime, unless you are driven by a selfish motive.
For Mauro Poggia (MCG/GE), also a member of the Committee for Legal Affairs of the States, this framework should not be tightened.
‘I think it would be an admission of weakness to try to solve this societal problem through legislation. Today, the actors involved in the process talk to each other and look for solutions,’ he says.
‘The situation has changed’
Another episode has entered the debate on assisted suicide: the case of Pierre Beck, named after the former vice-president of the assisted suicide organisation Exit, who was acquitted by the Federal Court last year after helping an octogenarian in good health and not at the end of her life to die.
For Samia Hurst-Majno, Professor of Medical Ethics at the University of Geneva, this assistance to a person who is well has set a precedent.
‘We need to look again at the issue of assisted suicide at the federal level. Then, whatever conclusion comes out of this exercise, and there may be a whole bunch of them, but I think we need to realise that the situation has changed,’ she said.
In her view, elected officials could create a law on assisted suicide that would tighten the current framework.
Fear of ‘violent suicide’
For Pierre Beck, who has helped around 200 people to leave, toughening the law would not, however, remove the determination of people who want to die.
‘Some, perhaps, will do nothing at all and accept to die a natural death or through palliative care. But there are a number of them who will commit violent suicide.
This is very damaging for their loved ones and for society in general,’ he believes.
In the end, will the legal framework surrounding assisted suicide be tightened?
The ball is in the court of the federal elected representatives.
