Voters bat for assisted suicide

ZURICH (AP):

Voters in Zurich have overwhelmingly rejected calls to ban assisted suicide or to outlaw the practice for non-residents.

Zurich's cantonal voters by about a 4-to-1 margin yesterday defeated both measures that had been pushed by political and religious conservatives.

Out of more than 278,000 ballots cast, the initiative to ban assisted suicide was opposed by 85 per cent of voters and the initiative to outlaw it for foreigners was turned down by 78 per cent, according to Zurich authorities.

Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, and has been since 1941, provided the helper isn't a medical doctor and doesn't personally benefit from a patient's death. About 200 people a year commit suicide in Zurich.

"It's everybody's own decision. It must be allowed, they do it anyway," said Felix Gutjahr, a Zurich voter who opposed the ballot initiatives.