An assisted suicide device dubbed the “Tesla of euthanasia” is facing backlash after it was set to be used for the first time next week in Switzerland.
The pod, named Sacro, created by 76-year-old Dr. Philip Nitschke was scheduled for use sometime next week in Switzerland, according to Metro. However, prosecutors are now reportedly fighting to ban its use, the outlet reported.
While voluntary assisted suicide is legal in the country, some are questioning if it’s idealizing death, with some pro-life groups arguing the pods “glamorise suicide,” the Daily Mail reported.
The pod is supposed to fill with nitrogen and rapidly decrease the oxygen level inside while still maintaining a low level of carbon dioxide, providing “the conditions for a peaceful, even euphoric death,” according to Sarco’s website. The process is supposed to take roughly 10 minutes, Metro reported.
The process is also filmed, and the footage is later given to a coroner, the outlet reported. (RELATED: Nearly 20 States Are Weighing Legislation That Would Make Assisted Suicide Legal).
Controversial suicide pod dubbed the ‘Tesla of euthanasia’ to be used for the first time https://t.co/4zzJw0Mww7 pic.twitter.com/OE83F5Yiow
— New York Post (@nypost) July 17, 2024
Blick, a Swiss tabloid, reported that the Schaffhausen public prosecutor’s office began investigating the pods and said “serious legal consequences could arise” if it were to be used. Prosecutors reportedly say those who assist in someone’s death with this device could face up to five years in jail, according to the outlet.
“There is no reliable information about the method of killing,” public prosecutor Peter Sticher reportedly said in a letter to Nitschke. “[It is] completely unclear who has control over which mechanical process during the dying process.”
Nitschke explained the process in great detail in a 2023 interview with the Daily Mail.
“The person will climb into the machine, they will be asked three questions and they will answer verbally – ‘Who are you?’, ‘Where are you?’ and ‘Do you know what happens if you press the button?” he told the outlet. “‘And if they answer those questions verbally, the software then switches the power on so that the button can then be pressed.”
“And if they press the button they will die very quickly,” he told the Daily Mail.
