Switzerland set to declare war on 'suicide tourism'

(RIA Novosti) - Switzerland is reviewing draft legislation aimed at restricting the number of patients allowed to undergo euthanasia procedures in the country's clinics, the Swiss justice minister has said.

The initiative has been put forward by the Swiss authorities following a sharp increase in the number of foreigners travelling to Switzerland, one of the few countries in the world where euthanasia is legal, to commit physician-assisted suicide.

"Our country is not interested in 'suicide tourism', and we will do everything possible to prevent people from crossing the Swiss border only to commit suicide a few hours later in some clinic," Russia's Vesti television quoted Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf as saying.

According to the draft bill, voluntary euthanasia procedures will be allowed only for terminally-ill patients, and only if they provide at least two independent diagnoses of their illness.

The draft proposal contradicts the Swiss Supreme Court's ruling of November 3, 2006, which says 'every person has the right to decide when and how to die,' and could meet with strong opposition within the country.

Hundreds of foreigners, mainly Europeans, travel to Switzerland every year to pay several thousand euros and receive a lethal injection of coma-inducing drugs, which makes it a profitable business for medical clinics.

The new legislation has to be approved by the Swiss parliament before taking effect as early as in May 2010.