German Suicide Machines Now On Sale
Now You Can Own Your Very Own ‘Perfusor’!
One press of a button and you can end your life with a swift injection of potassium chloride. That is the boast of Roger Kusch, once one of Germany’s most promising conservative politicians and now the improbable promoter of a mercy-killing machine.
If the “Perfusor”, designed to sidestep strict laws banning assisted suicide, goes into production then Germany rather than Switzerland could soon become the destination of choice for those seeking to kill themselves. Assisted suicide has been legal in Switzerland since 1942 providing a doctor has been consulted and the patient is aware of the consequences of his decision.
The machine would be lent or rented so that the patients could insert the needles themselves and then push the button releasing the potassium chloride, used to execute Death Row prisoners in some US states. How much and do they take credit cards?
April 4th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I personally completely approve of this. I am a member of a group that is called “The End Of Life Choices”, which used to be “The Hemlock Society”. I watched both of my parents go through long drawn out suffering for several years, before they died. They were both in pain and miserable. A study was once done of older people to find out if they were afraid of dying. The study found that most of them, were not afraid of dying. What they were afraid of, was that they would end up in some nursing home, hooked up to feeding tubes and life support and lying in a bed, in pain and suffering for years before they died. People have said, “Oh, all they need is enough pain medication, so that they will be pain free” These people have not been there. My father and mother, both were in pain, and wanted pain medication and were denied it, because their hearts were bad enough, that if they had been given enough pain medication to make them pain free, it would most likely have stopped their hearts. And, so they were told that they would have to be in pain, rather than risk an overdose. And, I was there bitting my lip, to not say, “And, exactly, why would it have been so horrible, if they are terminally ill and suffering anyways, if they died a couple of days earlier, but were pain free?” But, even if they had been able to be made pain free. Would any of the people who seem to think, that, then, there would be no reason to want to end their life, ever consider what it might be like to lie in a bed in a nursing home for hours and hours, day after day, and know that that could continue for possibly years??? I know that the argument is always made that people who are not ill, but simply want to commit suicide will use it. And,I realize that that could happen. But right now, there are so many people suffering in ways that we would consider cruel if they were a pet, and all kinds of life saving things done that result in their suffering continuing even longer than it would have naturally.
I view this as a compassionate choice that “ought” to be available for people who want it, and are terminally ill, or in chronic suffering that will never get better, to be able to have this choice. Doctors, could supervise who could rent the machine, to be certain, that it was someone who had a “good” reason for wanting to do this, rather than someone who was simply depressed or had a temporary painful situation that they could recover from. But, certainly, we have erred on the side of doing way too many things to prolong life and often the result has been to prolong suffering, but then want to call something like this, “Making ourselves God”. I am 60 yrs. old and arthritic, and in constant pain, due to the arthritis, and hip replacements, two spinal fusions, a broken leg. But, still, I would not want to end my life right now. But, possibly 20 years down the road, if I had congestive heart failure or had had a massive heart attack and been “saved” my use of a heart assist pump, and now had a half a heart muscle to try to live on, and all my internal organs were breaking down and failing due to lack of sufficient oxygenation, or I had cancer, then, I would sincerely hope that this was completely available and completely legal, and hopefully even doctor endorsed. I would in fact hope that it would be an option that I could discuss with my family doctor, and if he or she agreed that it was “time”, it could then be done in a hospice, after having said good bye to friends and family. That would be so much better an end than what my parents and we suffered through. This, to me, is encouraging news. I know that there will be people who will feel that this is “horrible”, but people like me, who feel that it is “long overdue” and necessary, ought to be able to have this end of life, choice.
April 4th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
The folks who claim this invention is evil are obviously not elderly; nor are they miserable from the suffering. Of course they think its horrible. They haven’t put themselves in their shoes.