Christian nursing home forced to allow assisted suicide

A Swiss court has ruled that a Christian nursing home must either permit assisted suicide on its premises or give up its charitable status.

The nursing home, which is run by the Salvation Army, the UK-based Christian charity, lost a legal challenge to new assisted suicide rules.

The regulations, introduced about a year ago, compel charities caring for the sick and elderly to offer assisted suicide when a patient or resident requests it.

The nursing home objected on the grounds that the law violated the core religious beliefs of the Salvation Army and that it represented an affront to freedom of conscience.

But the Federal Court rejected the complaint of the home, which is situated in the canton of Neuchatel, and ruled that individuals have the right to decide how and when they would like to end their lives.

According to a report on Swiss Radio In English, the judges said the only way the home could avoid its legal obligations to permit assisted suicide was to surrender its charitable status.

This would put the home outside of State control but it would also involve the loss of State subsidies.