A Swiss bishop warned against Switzerland’s “dangerous” new suicide capsule after an American woman committed suicide in the pod last week.
During a September 25 interview with a Swiss Catholic media outlet, Bishop Felix Gmür, the president of the Swiss bishops’ conference, condemned Switzerland’s “suicide pod,” which recently ended the life of a 64-year-old American woman suffering from immune problems.
“The suicide capsule is dangerous because, unlike other assisted suicide organizations, a medical assessment is not required,” said the bishop, adding that the capsule “makes suicide too easy to access.”
Instead of taking her life, Gmür explained that he “would have directed the suicidal person towards palliative care, which has a holistic understanding of the person and looks at them in both their clinical and their psychosocial and existential dimensions.”
“Relatives also play an important role in ensuring that the desperate person does not see themselves as a burden and feels loved and supported,” he continued. “It is important to communicate with relatives and with a pastor, as well as to find out where hospices are available and how palliative and humane care is provided there.”
Though Gmür spoke out against the “suicide pod,” he has contradicted the teaching of the Catholic Church on numerous issues, including “women priests” and sexuality.
Gmür’s statement on the suicide capsule comes after it was used for the first time last week to end the life of a 64-year-old American woman suffering from a compromised immune system.
Switzerland has allowed assisted suicide since 1942, with the requirements that the person willfully chooses suicide and is deemed to have “sound” judgment.
The country’s broad euthanasia policy has made it a tourist attraction for those around the world who wish to end their lives. However, the capsule appears to have gone a step too far even for Switzerland, as local police were brought in after the pod took its first victim.
Swiss police have arrested several people, including Florian Willet, chief executive of pro-euthanasia group The Last Resort, for “inducing and aiding and abetting suicide,” according to a report from CNN.
The pod is called Sarco, short for sarcophagus, the name of the coffins in which ancient Egyptian pharaohs were buried. The futuristic-looking 3D-printed capsule was first unveiled in 2019 for assisted suicide in Switzerland but was met with controversy.
It’s founder, Philip Nitschke, who has been nicknamed “Dr. Death” for his attempt to “glamorize” suicides, explained how the pod works in a recent interview with the South China Morning Post.
Once a person is inside the pod, he or she is asked who they are, where they are, and if they know what happens when they press the button.
The death in the pod can also be activated by a button, gesture, voice control, or blink of the eye for those who cannot vocally or physically communicate due to severe illness or mobility issues.
After they answer, a voice says, “If you want to die press this button.” Once the button is pressed, the pod is flooded with nitrogen, causing the oxygen to plummet from 21 percent to 0.05 percent in the air in less than 30 seconds.
“They will then stay in that state of unconsciousness for… around about five minutes before death will take place,” Nitschke explained.
He added that, “Once you press that button, there’s no way of going back.”
The death inside the pod is filmed, and the footage is handed to a coroner.
The push to debut the pod this year comes after the pod was banned earlier this month after prosecutors questioned the legality and ethics of the pod, pointing out that it is unclear who is responsible for the death and who operates the pod.