When our pets grow old we begin to see them suffer with everyday activities that once were so easy. Running down the stairs to greet you as you enter the door from a long day at work made you fall to your knees in happiness to receive kisses galore. 

Now you wait with a small, meak smile telling your precious baby to take it slow, so they don’t hurt themselves. Yet, when the time comes you tell them how wonderful they are, give them one last kiss as the veterinarian euthanizes them. This is humane. This is the right thing to do. With a human life it is seen as either a form of murder or a helping hand. 

Then again, could this controversial topic be deemed unreasonable if within a healthy state of mind, the individual in question steps into a machine and euthanizes themselves? If all necessary precautions were taken, just as though they were signing a do not resuscitate form, would their be any controversy?

According to Mirror News, 70-year-old Dr. Philip Nitschke has developed “Sacro with engineer Alexander Bannick in the Netherlands.” Sacro is a machine that you step into and enclose behind you. The machine fills with nitrogen, the levels will continue to increase, with the oxygen level simultaneously decreasing until the individual peacefully loses consciousness. 

Dr. Nitschke told Daily Mail that “anyone who can pass the entry test, can enter the machine and legally end their life.” Therefore, the individual cannot even begin this process without going through extensive testing, making it less of an ‘on-the-whim decision’ and more of a well-thought-out process.

Does this same euthanization process fall under the cruelty of assisted suicide or simply just suicide? Can it legally be considered suicide in general if it falls under the same circumstances of a DNR form? 

If an individual’s heart stops from complications, there is nothing a doctor can do but stand there and wait for all signs of life to dissipate. If the same individual no longer wants to live with their condition and has made a sound decision to enter the Sacro to euthanize themselves, is it not a personal choice?

 It’s their right to do with their life as they wish. As controversial as it is, whether it’s deemed reasonable, there should be guidelines. If the individual in question is not of sound mind then it should not be deemed fitting for them to choose such a drastic measure. 

If a young 10-year-old is dying of a painful disease, should they be capable of making such a decision for themselves? Under United States law, a minor does not have the mental capacity to understand their legal rights, so what would make them sound of mind to end their own life? 

If young people want to commit suicide then they legally have an option to do such a thing. Therefore, it was later added by Dr. Nitschke that “we have added the condition of a reasonable amount of life experience and the quite random age limit of 50.”

Whether you believe in assisted suicide or not, what Dr. Nitschke and Mr. Bannick have created is a medical and scientific discovery of our time. Those who are sick and in pain, no longer have to deal with a medical overdose to end their lives. 

They can simply lull themselves to sleep until they are gone. They can say their good-byes, say I love you and look back on the fond memories their life has given them — all on their own terms.