BOISE, ID—Idaho’s Legislature passed a controversial death-with-indignity law Thursday, allowing terminally ill patients to be crushed by falling vending machines. The Idaho-vending-machine-death-law, hailed by advocates, offers a humiliating end-of-life option.
“This gives those with incurable diseases a slow, painful, embarrassing exit,” said House Speaker Mike Moyle. The bipartisan measure, set to be signed today, mirrors Switzerland’s decades-old practice where people die after rocking vending machines for snacks or change. For more on right-to-die laws, visit NPR.
Patients can opt for this at home, surrounded by ashamed loved ones, if travel to a break room or bowling alley is impossible. “It’s a choice,” Moyle added, noting the law’s flexibility.
A 33-year-old Pocatello man became the first to die, crushed while grabbing Famous Amos cookies as nurses toppled a machine. Learn about end-of-life debates at The Atlantic. At press time, critics called the law “absurdly cruel.”
