Sarco’s so-called suicide pod (Image: Getty)
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Terminally ill people will not be able to end their life using a so-called “suicide pod” despite MPs voting in support of an Bill today.
Ahead of today’s landmark vote, the inventor of the Sarco ‘death pods’ has said he would be “very keen” to bring the devices to the UK should the bill be passed.
Dr Kim Nitschke said: “We have a lot of members there, and a lot of UK people following the Sarco project very closely. There would be a lot of scope. I would be very keen to do that.
“It seems to me that it will just provide an additional option for those who don’t want the needle and who don’t want the drink… who do like what I describe as the stylish and elegant means that is provided by this device in some idyllic location.”
Following the vote today, what does this mean for the bill and will these pods be brought to Britain? Express Politics explains.
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What is a suicide pod?
The Sarco pods work by releasing nitrogen into a sealed chamber. To operate the device, the person ending their life presses a button to release the gas, which will cause them to fall asleep before dying of suffocation.
The company behind the controversial pod says it can be solely operated by the person seeking to end their own life, without medical supervision.
The pods are also built with a transparent front window, which gives users a picturesque view in their final moments.
Dr Nitschke said: “If you want to be overlooking the lakes or the mountains or looking [at] whatever, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be accommodated. Certainly, Sarco can do that.”
However, the pods have encountered fierce opposition after police in Switzerland made multiple arrests in September when a woman reportedly ended her life using a so-called suicide pod, but appeared to have strangulation marks on her neck.
The investigation resulted in the only two complete Sarco pods being confiscated by police.
While assisted dying is legally protected in some circumstances in Switzerland, it is strictly regulated.
Dr Nitschke said: “We are printing a new Sarco now to make up for the one that the Swiss have confiscated. I can see no reason why it couldn’t be used in the UK when the law comes in.”
Assisted dying remains illegal in the UK and in most other European countries but nearly 350 Britons have now ended their lives at Dignitas in Switzerland.
Under the Bill going through the UK’s parliament, the patient would need to be over 18, living in England or Wales for at least a year, registered with a GP, and with mental capacity (so able to understand the decision they are making, weigh its pros and cons and communicate it).
They must also be likely to die within six months, have a clear, settled and informed wish to end their life, and not have been pressured into making the decision.
How will assisted dying work in the UK?
Under the proposals supported by Parliamentarians, a High Court judge would have to rule each time a person makes a request to end their life. A patient would then have to wait 14 days before acting.
A doctor would prepare the substance being used to end the patient’s life, but the person would take it themselves.
The bill does not say which drug would be used.
It would be illegal to coerce someone into declaring they want to end their life, with a possible 14-year prison sentence.