Mr. Silvan Luley:

I mentioned in my opening statement that this one of the big problems of jurisdiction which does not permit real freedom of choice for suffering individuals. These people are either left to take matters into their hands and try a violent suicide by whatever harsh and rough method, or go to Switzerland or another country which would provide more freedom. If they are so determined to make that choice and determine their end in life, they would have to do that slightly earlier than what would be possible if they had that choice at home. In Switzerland, mental capacity for being able to do it yourself is always the base. We do not have voluntary euthanasia of people. In any case you have to still be competent and be able to act yourself. That would be different if voluntary euthanasia was permitted.

People sometimes go to extremes to get their choice. For example, we had people come by air ambulance from Britain to Switzerland to make use of an assisted suicide. They can stay at home for a long time until they would have to use whatever means to travel to Switzerland but that is absurd and it must change. It cannot be that people need to travel abroad. It is the same as with abortion many years ago, when women from Ireland travelled to England to have that choice. Things like this must stop. The law must give human rights to people at their homes, and that has a life-prolonging effect. Here in Switzerland we accompany people at their homes. People do not come to us but we go to their homes. We have more mobile palliative care teams going to people's homes instead of people going to a palliative care ward. This is the way forward and how it should be.