Advocacy Groups Suspend Use of 'Suicide Capsule' (apnews.com)
- Reference: 0175205789
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/24/10/07/159228/advocacy-groups-suspend-use-of-suicide-capsule
- Source link: https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-suicide-capsule-people-detained-e5c12c131f1a029db80d3b486bf592a4
> Advocacy groups behind a so-called suicide capsule said Sunday they have [2]suspended the process of taking applications to use it -- which numbered over 370 last month -- as a criminal investigation into its first use in Switzerland is completed. The president of Switzerland-based The Last Resort, Florian Willet, is being held in pretrial detention, said the group and Exit International, an affiliate founded in Australia over a quarter century ago. Swiss police arrested Willet and several other people following the death of an unidentified 64-year-old woman from the U.S. Midwest who on Sept. 23 became the first person to use the device, known as the "Sarco," in a forest in the northern Schaffhausen region near the German border. Others initially detained were released from custody, authorities have said.
[1] https://slashdot.org/~doc1623
[2] https://apnews.com/article/switzerland-suicide-capsule-people-detained-e5c12c131f1a029db80d3b486bf592a4
It should be legal to kill yourself (Score:2)
After some review from medical professionals, it should be legal.
My cat had severe cancer and was suffering. We were able to kill her without a second thought and it was what was best. My mother-in-law had to go to "hospice" and starve herself to death while suffering from internal bleeding in her lungs from stage 4 lung cancer. It was brutal, traumatic, and 100% unnecessary. My grandfather had to do the same.
Why do humans like suffering so much?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Because most Western governments are staffed by Christians, the alleged followers of Jesus.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. We don't expect die-hard fans of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars to decie how everyone should live, so why should we think otherwise of fans of ancient fantasy books?
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Kill has such negative conditions, which is why it is the wrong word to use. Self termination should be is a right for any intelligent being.
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The issue is one of potential. Death erases any and all potential. Be it societal or personal.
It's basically the same basic principle as with the death penalty. You cannot undo it. As is often the case, thresholds are very fluid and waters are murky... if someone is suffering from a terminal disease and there is no hope that this person could ever conceivably enjoy life again.... ...well, what does that mean? I have been having trouble enjoying life for the last 20 to 30 years but I finally managed to turn
Re: (Score:2)
> The issue is one of potential. Death erases any and all potential. Be it societal or personal.
> It's basically the same basic principle as with the death penalty. You cannot undo it. As is often the case, thresholds are very fluid and waters are murky... if someone is suffering from a terminal disease and there is no hope that this person could ever conceivably enjoy life again.... ...well, what does that mean? I have been having trouble enjoying life for the last 20 to 30 years but I finally managed to turn the trend into a positive direction. So if I had offed myself five years ago, my current's self would be rather pissed with that hypothetical past self.
> There have been people during history who have achieved unbelievable things under extremely trying conditions. Chances are, these people wanted to give up at some point. What if they had?
> In short, suicide is very much against most, if not all, our basic instincts. Therefore if someone wishes to do it, I wager chances are it's to a large degree a mental thing that could be changed.
> I for one would not want to be involved in helping someone end that potential.
> Disclaimer: I did not win the genetic lottery. I am suffering from a list of things and I have had several years at a time where I had regular thoughts of suicide and I have called a helpline even.
We either need a society that gives us *SOME* option for helping care for our basic mental health, or we need to allow people to self-terminate. This idea that you need to suffer forever / until 'natural' death, or have to hook yourself into medical machines to force life into your barely breathing corpse in some cases, without any form of support beyond, "We'll keep ya alive, rest is up to you," isn't a boon to humans. It's a punishment. Suffer, suffer, suffer some more. Just don't die. Dying is naughty. T
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> Why do humans like suffering so much?
HINT: It's because we live in a society in which a significant portion believe in a fairy tale, which proclaims that humans are the only animals special enough to not be allowed to terminate the lives of themselves or others, except for particular circumstances (such as government-sanction executions, and war) that those same believers will resort to mental gymnastics to avoid questioning.
The ruling class makes life unbearable (Score:2)
for large swaths of the population.
The risk is that if suicide is normalized people who come to realize that there's nothing left but endless toil in a tiny, filthy apartment with periodic bouts of homelessness and constant stress and hunger will just say "screw this noise, I'm otta here".
China has suicide nets, but the rest of the world just makes it a crime.
Neither country tries to make life worth living for everyone because, well, what good is being rich if nobody is poor?
Why can't they just do it like us Americans do (Score:2)
by working yourself to death.
Too bad. It looked very promising. (Score:2)
Governments should not be in the business of forcing people to continue to live against their will.
Re: (Score:1)
But then who will pick the cotton if the lower 99% decide to reroll?
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The FU2 visa program was reinstated with slightly better conditions and a new name.
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That is not what is happening here. Exit has been operating for years in Switzerland. As far as I understand the issue it's the fact that the procedure around this capsule is new, has not been approved yet and still they went ahead and used it.
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> Governments should not be in the business of forcing people to continue to live against their will.
This is the problem with modern governance. Government seems to believe they own citizens from birth, and citizens must be forced to complete the correct set of steps before being allowed to die. And some of those steps include shoveling off to a retirement home where your funds can be bled dry before you are allowed to expire painfully and slowly. This is the program. Deviation from the program is frowned upon.