A suicide in a new euthanasia machine in Switzerland is “shocking, and deeply sad,” according to English Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth.
A 64-year-old American woman ended her life using the 3D-printed suicide machine called a “Sarco Pod” on Sep. 23 in Merishausen, Switzerland.
The inventor of the device, Australian Doctor Philip Nitschke, said it was “an idyllic peaceful death in a Swiss forest” in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
News reports say he watched the death on an internet feed.
“We saw jerky, small twitches of the muscles in her arms, but she was probably already unconscious by then. It looked exactly how we expected it to look,” he told De Volkskrant.
Although euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, the use of the “Sarco Pod” didn’t follow the rules established in Swiss law, and several people were arrested after the death.
The head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs Elisabeth Baume-Schneider said it was not legal for two reasons.
“Firstly, it does not meet the requirements of product safety law and may therefore not be placed on the market. Secondly, the corresponding use of nitrogen is not compatible with the purpose article of the Chemicals Act,” she told a Swiss news organization.
Assisted suicide is currently illegal in the United Kingdom, but changes to the law are expected to be pursued under the new Labour government.
“The ‘Sarco Pod’ – from the word ‘sarcophagus’ – was invented in 2017 by the euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke, as a device to help people commit suicide,” Egan said in a statement issued Oct. 1.
“Like a gas chamber, its operation is simple. When the user lies back and the lid is closed, s/he presses a button to activate it. Liquid nitrogen floods the cabin, causing the oxygen level to drop to less than 5 percent in under a minute,” the bishop said.
“The user will at first feel a bit dizzy but then rapidly lose consciousness and die. Users can choose either a dark or transparent lid for the capsule. The transparent view would be chosen if they wished to view relatives gathered round or to die in a particular place,” he continued.
“In the case here, the woman had decided she wanted to die within a woodland setting. The design of the suicide pod is intended to resemble that of a spaceship, Nitschke says, in order to give users the feel that they are traveling to the ‘great beyond’,” Egan explained.
The bishop noted reactions vary to the story of this new form of suicide.
“Some see the Sarco, which is ‘designed to be aesthetically beautiful’ and comes in a range of different colors, as a glorified gas chamber that glamorizes suicide and will lead to many more deaths by suicide. Others, such as Exit International, suggest it offers legislators a new end-of-life option, showing up the limitations of the medical model, e.g. a lethal injection,” he said.
The spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said Nitschke’s “horrendous suicide machine” should never have been used.
“Despite the Swiss government telling Nitschke loud and clear that the use of the suicide pod is illegal, his associates chose to ignore this and move forward with his agenda,” she said.
“It is becoming increasingly clear how unrealistic the safeguards in place are for those who might attempt to use the device in future. This apparently fully automated process is a disaster in waiting. Instead of assisted suicide, we should focus on providing support and care for those in distress. Every life is precious and deserves protection,” Robinson added.
Egan said for Christians, the very concept of the Sarco “is abominable.”
“Our life is a gift from God. No matter how ill or emotionally disturbed we might be, it is not up to us to end it,” he said.
“We know that many in the media and the government are now committed to bringing in assisted suicide, and even euthanasia, for the sick, the elderly, those with mental illnesses and the dying,” the bishop continued.
“The ideology behind all this is the very ideology Britain fought in World War Two! As Catholics, we must pray and do all we can to call people back to their senses. Bringing in assisted suicide will change the culture of our society – for ever,” Egan said.
