Lausanne, Switzerland – A ruling by Switzerland’s highest court released Friday has opened up the possibility that people with serious mental illnesses could be helped by doctors to take their own lives.
Switzerland already allows physician- assisted suicide for terminally ill patients under certain circumstances. The Federal Tribunal’s decision puts mental illnesses on the same level as physical ones.
“It must be recognized that an incurable, permanent, serious mental disorder can cause similar suffering as a physical (disorder), making life appear unbearable to the patient in the long term,” the ruling said. “If the death wish is based on an autonomous decision which takes all circumstances into account, then a mentally ill person can be prescribed sodium-pentobarbital and thereby assisted in suicide.”
Various groups exist in Switzerland to help people who want to commit suicide. Helping someone to die is not punishable under Swiss law as long as there is no “selfish motivation” for doing so.
The judges made clear in their ruling that certain conditions would have to be met before a mentally ill person’s request for suicide assistance could be considered justified.
