For a few years now, a controversial device has been available for a search on the Internet. We are talking about The Sarco, that machine or capsule that tries to support assisted suicide. A “sort of” sarcophagus of the future that, for obvious reasons, is not allowed in many places. A legal and moral puzzle that has just opened a new chapter after the death of the first person in the device. It happened in a forest in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, but apparently not so.
The news. Swiss police have now opened a criminal investigation and arrested several people following the death of a 64-year-old American woman in a so-called “suicide capsule.” The incident occurred on Monday in a forest near the German border in the Swiss town of Merishausen. This is the first case in one of the few countries where assisted suicide is legal, albeit under certain conditions.
The public prosecutor’s office also confirmed that it had opened an investigation into alleged aiding and abetting suicide, and is also looking into whether other crimes had been committed. Meanwhile, Swiss Interior Minister Élisabeth Baume-Schneider questioned the moral and legal status of The Sarco.
The capsule. As we mentioned, we’re talking about a 3D-printed capsule launched in 2018, one that releases nitrous gas at the click of a button once inside. The device is the brainchild of a group calling itself The Last Resort, which claims to be made up of “a small international collective of human rights advocates (with backgrounds in law, science, medicine, and healthcare).”
The group claims its mission is to “diversify (and improve) the assisted dying process in Switzerland.” How does it work? The capsule is designed to put its occupant to sleep within seconds via nitrous gas. The gas then rapidly reduces oxygen levels in the capsule until the person dies. The entire process is said to take about five minutes.
The inventor. The man who created the capsule is Philip Nitschke, an Australian doctor popularly known as “the euthanasia guru”. He was the first to practice euthanasia in the Netherlands after it was legalised in 2001 and a staunch defender of the “right to death” with several published books. A few years ago he announced The Sarco in order to promote “taking one’s life safely and without violence”.
In fact, Nitschke confirmed these days that the woman had died “an idyllic and peaceful death in a Swiss forest,” and that the capsule had been used to give her “the death she wanted.” The man is said to have watched the woman’s death via a video link in Germany, and followed the readings of an oxygen and heart rate monitor attached to her.
How he died. A German scientist, Florian Willet, is believed to have been the only person present at the American woman’s death. He is one of the main members of The Last Resort. Blick explained that the woman’s death was “peaceful, quick and dignified. She had suffered for many years from a series of serious health problems related to an autoimmune disease.”
He also said that he lost consciousness “within two minutes” and died after five. “We saw little spasmodic twitches of the muscles in his arms, but he was probably unconscious by then. He looked exactly as we expected him to look,” he said.
Right to die. Before entering the facility, the woman made a statement to a lawyer, Fiona Stewart, one of the directors of The Last Resort. In it, she confirmed that it had been her own wish to die and that she had the support of her two children. The woman detailed that she had wanted to do so for two years after being diagnosed with a serious illness that caused her intense pain.
The lawyer also stressed that she had previously been examined by a psychiatrist who had deemed her mentally fit.
The controversy. However, open research shows that there is still a long way to go before such machinery is used. In the case of the Swiss law, assisted suicide is permitted provided that the person takes his or her own life without “external help” and that those who help the person to die do not do so for “any selfish motive.”
The capsule was originally granted legal approval for public use in Switzerland in 2021, but controversy has since dogged the device. Following its first use on Monday, several people have been arrested in connection with the woman’s death, with prosecutors saying they have “opened an investigation into alleged incitement and complicity in suicide.”
Why? It’s not entirely clear what exactly went wrong from a legal standpoint, though government officials have openly criticized the device for failing to comply with local safety regulations. It’s possible that bureaucracy isn’t all that’s behind all the controversy.
The “morality” of wanting to die. From a “moral” point of view, it depends on the sidewalk, obviously. In contrast to states that reject euthanasia based on the same principles that combat suicide (life has an intrinsic value in itself), figures such as Nitschke refute the theory as a serious error.
“I reject that. Someone’s wish to die should not be dealt with per se. Another objection is that life is a gift. My counterargument is: if life is a gift, you are allowed to give it away. Otherwise, isn’t it a burden rather than a gift?” he explained in an interview some time ago.
Doubts about the machine. That said, and as we explained some time ago, the device itself raises other questions. The machine requires that the “client” be over 50 years old (to avoid encouraging suicidal thoughts in young people), but more importantly, what happens to those who have a severe clinical stage, such as severe curable depression? Could they access it?
The doctor has clearly explained that yes, and that a mandatory prior test via AI will determine whether one is mentally healthy or not. A thorny issue, since distinguishing between someone who wants to end their life, convinced of it, and someone who is considering it because of a mental illness, perhaps reversible, is not a simple equation.
Image | Ratel
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