Assisted suicide: death with dignity or ethical dilemma?
Assisted suicide is considered a controversial and personal topic. Does it mean death with dignity, or does it inevitably lead to an ethical dilemma?
With a renewed discussion around the suicide capsule “Sarco”, the topic of assisted suicide has become prominent again in recent weeks. The “Sarco” capsule is a high-tech device where a patient can release nitrogen at the push of a button, apparently causing a swift death. Swiss authorities have so far refused to approve this device.
When a seriously ill person decides to voluntarily end their life, they usually have a long and arduous journey behind them.
How difficult these last steps can be is shown in two reports by SWI swissinfo.ch: Journalist Kaoru Uda accompanied two people from Japan in the process of assisted suicide. Both incurably ill, both fully dependent on their parents despite being of legal age.
Yoshi (name changed) and Aina both registered with the organisation Lifecircle in Switzerland. While assisted suicide is prohibited in their home country, it is legal in Switzerland as long as the person who wishes to die takes the necessary medication themselves.
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Yoshi travels from Japan to Switzerland to die
These are two stories with completely different outcomes. While Yoshi, who suffered from the muscle disease ALS, voluntarily ended his life, Aina decided against assisted suicide at the last moment and returned to Japan with her father.
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Finding life in the face of death: A Japanese woman’s emotional journey
Assisted suicide as political statement
A prominent case of assisted suicide was that of Swiss-French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard. He is considered one of the most influential film directors in history and decided in 2022, at the age of 91, to end his life.
“If I am too sick, I wouldn’t want to be pushed around in a wheelbarrow,” he told French-speaking Swiss public broadcaster, RTS, in an interview shortly before his chosen end of life.
His death can certainly be read as a political statement, as there was an intense debate about euthanasia in France at that time.
Assisted suicide in care homes?
With the help of the association Exit in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, 1,252 members voluntarily ended their lives in 2023, 11% more than in 2022. The average age was 80.7 years for women and 79 years for men.
At this age, people are very often dependent on help from outside, either from their own relatives or in a nursing home. But what if a person wants to die by assisted suicide and the nursing home forbids it? This question will be regulated by law in canton Graubünden:
Desire for self-determination
In the case of assisted suicide, one thing is particularly important for those affected: self-determination. Giving the people dying this freedom of choice is the motivation that drives Alois Carnier.
He is the regional manager of Exit in eastern Switzerland. In an interview with German-speaking public broadcaster, SRF, he talks about his feelings when he hands over the drugs to a patient to end their life, and in which cases he cannot approve the wish for assisted suicide.
Heart2Heart, Tel. 143, (143.chExternal link)
Pro Juventute, in German, French and Italian: Tel. 147, (147.chExternal link)
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Why assisted suicide is ‘normal’ in Switzerland
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