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3D printed 'suicide pod' used by a human for the first time
(www.theregister.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
This thing is exactly my exit strategy. My living will gives my wife absolute authority to decide to terminate my life if she sees fit; whether or not the state would allow it is another matter, but at least my wishes are known. These include conditions of cognitive decline; my step-father recently passed after a protracted decade of horrific decline, and no fucking way all I going through that.
While you've got a more pragmatic solution, to be frank, if I'm going I'd like to do so with some guarantees and comfort. I'm not comfortable with the risk of accidentally half-assing the attempt with something I jury-rigged and end up with brain damage and the inability to complete the job. I'm hoping that some state will have the balls to jump into suicide tourism and open clinics full of these specific devices, so if things get bad and I'm still able to travel, I can go in some comfort.
I'm fucked if I'm comatose, because most options are simply removing support and letting the patient starve to death, and I fear being conscious (enough) through that protracted process.
We have such shit laws in this country (USA) about giving people autonomy over their end-of-life process.