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According to US media reports, on the 23rd of last month, a 64-year-old woman in United States ended her life with a suicide capsule in Switzerland.
Switzerland is the only country in the world that supports the legalization of euthanasia for foreigners, but strangely, after the death of this United States woman, the relevant people who assisted her in ending her life were arrested by the local police.
The arrests were motivated by suspicion of "aiding, inducing and abetting suicide", and it is understood that since the legalization of euthanasia in Switzerland, about 1,300 people have been "sent away" by organizations that developed suicide capsules.
After this incident, it quickly attracted the attention of the Western media, and the issue of the legalization of euthanasia once again caused controversy.
So why is it that euthanasia is legal in Switzerland, but people who assist suicide are arrested?
Death in 30 seconds
The suicide capsule, called Sarco, was developed by an organization called Curtain Call International, which has long claimed that it is a "non-profit organization" that manufactures the capsule to better help users.
Sarco is somewhat different from the previous euthanasia method, which was generally carried out with drugs.
And euthanasia in Switzerland, according to the country's official statement, should be "assisted suicide" to be precise, and the country's laws have strict regulations on the entire assisted suicide process.
First of all, assisting others to commit suicide must be in line with altruism, that is, the person who is preparing to commit suicide, death is the best choice for him, and it is not illegal in this case.
Secondly, a third-party doctor must be present throughout the execution and record the entire process.
Finally, a person who commits suicide must be accompanied by a relative at all times before he dies, and the person who commits suicide must be allowed to use drugs on his or her own to comply with the regulations.
It is said to be euthanasia, but in fact, the whole process is very cumbersome, and it costs a lot, relevant information shows that in Switzerland euthanasia clinics, it costs about 10,000 pounds at a time, which costs almost 90,000 yuan.
This is really a lot of money for ordinary people, but it also raises the threshold for people who want to commit suicide, and in order to lower this threshold, the organization "Curtain Call International" has developed a new suicide capsule, Sarco.
The most obvious difference between this capsule and conventional assisted suicide methods is that it does not require any drugs, so it can greatly reduce costs, and you only need to pay 18 Switzerland francs for one use, which is about 150 yuan.
The manufacturer responsible for the production of the capsule explained that the capsule can accommodate an adult inside, and there is a conspicuous button in the cabin, and as long as the user presses the button inside, then the euthanasia process officially begins.
Within 30 seconds, the oxygen concentration in the capsule begins to decrease rapidly, normally about 21% in the air, and most of the other gases are nitrogen.
In this process, as the oxygen concentration decreases, the person who slowly lies inside will have a feeling of vertigo, mixed with some pleasure during this period, and then the person inside will slowly lose consciousness until he dies completely.
During this period, the deceased will not feel any panic or suffocation, because the highest gas in the air is nitrogen, and the human body will not experience any discomfort, which can be regarded as a relatively "happy" death.
The disadvantage of this suicide capsule is also obvious, that is, it cannot be reversed, once the button is pressed, then the cabin can only wait quietly for death.
The first person to use the suicide capsule was a 64-year-old woman from the United States who ended her life in a cabin in the woods where the euthanasia capsule was placed.
Before her death, she suffered from a very serious immune system disease, and she was already physically and mentally exhausted after suffering from illness for many years, and she finally chose to end her life in order to end this painful life.
Before entering the capsule, she passed a psychiatric assessment and was supported by her family, and she also left a statement.
Not only that, a doctor in Australia, who witnessed her death throughout the whole process, this doctor spoke very highly of the suicide capsule, and he felt that the woman's death was completely carried out as expected and belonged to a "dignified" death.
It is for these reasons that on the 27th of last month, Switzerland media reported that the few people who assisted the woman in committing suicide, except for one who was released on bail pending trial, the rest have been freed.
So why is this euthanasia controversial?
The controversy caused by euthanasia
It turned out that although the deceased had the consent of the family, her two sons were not with her at the time of the official execution, so this did not comply with Switzerland's laws and regulations.
At the same time, there was no professional medical staff at the scene, and this suicide capsule was a product of another country and did not meet the requirements of Switzerland's product safety regulations, so it could not be put into the market.
Finally, the act of nitrogen suicide is contrary to Switzerland's chemical product regulations, so from any point of view, this assisted suicide act does not comply with the country's statutory regulations, and naturally arouses the opposition of some other "assisted suicide agencies" in Switzerland.
And once this suicide capsule, which simplifies the euthanasia process, is put into the market, it will be difficult to regulate.
Switzerland euthanasia can be traced back to 1942, although this behavior is legal, but it still needs to be strictly supervised to avoid being used by people with intentions and causing unnecessary deaths.
At present, the countries that practice euthanasia in the world are mainly in the West, including: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada and some local states in the United States.
There are many restrictions on the standards and implementation of euthanasia in different countries, which are heavily restricted by legal provisions, and many countries have expressed their support for the legalization of euthanasia, but they have been slow to practice it because there are many problems in it.
The first is the issue of the regulatory mechanism, whether people who want to end their lives are really voluntary? Have you been coerced for a long time, or have you been induced by a third party to have excessively negative suicidal feelings?
Don't think this is alarmist, you might as well think about those who were bewitched by the cult and chose to commit suicide on the streets, they are uncertain factors.
Even in Switzerland, such voices have always existed, whether the dead are deliberately guided by others, and under the premise that there is still hope for survival, they are constantly amplified by the other party's will to die, causing those who should not die to be sent out of this world.
There has been no standard answer to this dilemma.
The emergence of this suicide capsule will highly simplify the process of euthanasia, then the difficulty of supervision will increase exponentially, once it is really put into market use, then organ trafficking, maliciously leading others to commit suicide, such illegal acts will definitely appear.
How can these problems be solved? I'm afraid it will take a long time to find a balance.
epilogue
During the two sessions in 2020, the mainland organized an online survey, in which more than 82% of people were in favor of the legalization of euthanasia, and in 2021, this data has declined significantly, of which 7.1% clearly expressed opposition and 37.7% were neutral.
In fact, it is not that no one in China has mentioned this matter, but with the current population base of the mainland, as long as there is a situation of ineffective supervision in one link, it will damage the lives of those innocent people.
The specific situation needs to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, and how to optimize it will take a long time.
Reference:
Sichuan Watch: A 64-year-old woman died using a "euthanasia capsule", and related personnel were arrested
Observer.com: Switzerland's first use of suicide capsule "Sarco" has sparked controversy, and relevant people have been arrested on suspicion of assisting United States women to commit suicide
Guangzhou Daily: Ball Attention|Euthanasia Capsule, a "Magic Box" with "No Regrets"
China News Weekly: Euthanasia, I really can't afford to die - China News Weekly.com