Fresh off the shocking news of a so-called “suicide pod,” a contraption that is promised to “peacefully” end people’s lives, comes a new proposal for an implantable device that could end the lives of those with degenerative brain disorders.
Dr. Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, a former practicing doctor, and the creator of the so-called Sarco “suicide pod,” recently told the Independent about his proposal for another device that would allow people to seal their deaths years before illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s take away their cognitive abilities.
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“When a person has dementia, they can nowadays quite legally in some places fill out a bit of paper 10 years ago, when they are of sound mind, saying, ‘If I get like this, kill me,'” Nitschke told the outlet. “Now, 10 years later, a doctor can come along, read the bit of paper, and even though you don’t know which way is up or down, legally give you an injection and end your life.”
The activist, who is known in some circles as “Dr. Death,” said this makes people — including himself — uncomfortable. So, his organization is now exploring a workaround: an implantable device that gives people full control over that decision.
It’s not fully clear how this internal contraption would work, but Nitschke said it would be up to the person with the implant to shut the switch off each and every day (or every few days, perhaps).
Forgetting to do so would mean a death sentence.
“What we’re working on here is some sort of an implant which you have to switch off every day,” he told the Independent. “When you’ve forgotten why you’re switching something off that’s beeping, then you will die.”
These ideas at this juncture appear purely theoretical. Nitschke said there are a plethora of questions about how this device would work and what poison could be successfully used.
And those are just the operational technicalities. He acknowledged the legal barriers as well. Read more about the story here.
Pro-life group Live Action said Nitschke’s recent Independent interview is evidence he has “another disturbing method of death up his sleeve.” Despite the device purportedly being nowhere near completion, the group expressed alarm.
“Nitschke is not the first person to advocate such a notion, but, as his past actions have proven, he is often successful when it comes to promoting his pro-death ideas,” wrote Live Action’s Bridget Sielicki. “The idea of a programmable suicide implant is just another instance of the slippery slope that occurs when the culture of death succeeds in normalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia.”
Sielicki raised a valid point about Nitschke’s ability to make devices for the completion of euthanasia a reality.
#Gravitas | Switzerland has legalised a ‘Suicide Machine’. The device promises a ‘painless death’ within a minute. Assisted Suicide has been legal in the country since 1942. The ‘Sarco Pod’ is aimed at making the process easier. @palkisu has a report.#SuicideMachine pic.twitter.com/z8rM11xf2r
— WION (@WIONews) December 7, 2021
As Faithwire previously reported, Nitschke made headlines earlier this month for his Sarco “suicide pod,” which was recently authorized by Switzerland’s medical review board.
The machine sparked quite a bit of reaction and debate. Once inside the pod, those seeking to end their lives are asked a series of questions and are then prompted, if they so choose, to press a button that mostly removes oxygen and replaces it with nitrogen.
Nitschke has said the process isn’t painful and that it leaves people “a little disoriented” and “slightly euphoric” before their deaths, which unfold within five to 10 minutes. Read more here.
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