THE FEDERALIST/ Auguste Meyrat-
It’s ironic that one of the most bizarre jokes in the classic animated series “Futurama” happens to be its most prophetic: suicide booths. In the first episode, the protagonist, who wakes up from a 1,000-year cryogenic sleep, stands in a line of calm people to use what he thinks is a phone. Instead of entering the booth to make a call, they are being vaporized or slashed.
The idea of suicide-on-demand has now become a reality. Netherlands, Switzerland, and Belgium have liberalized their assisted suicide laws so anyone of any age can seek medicated suicide. Canada hopes to expand legal suicide for those who don’t suffer from a terminal illness, and a German high court has determined assisted suicide is every person’s right.
