John has been calling for suicide pods and exit bags for years.
His thinking is that getting old or gravely ill is misery for those people and their families. The choice to end life should be up to the individual.
As a reminder here is a snippet of a 2006 story from ABC News:
Called an Exit Bag, not a suicide bag, it's easily operable, inexpensive and, most importantly, a device that can be legally sold. The world's largest right-to-die organizations are recommending it to their members.
Advocates admit the idea of death-by-plastic-bag is shocking, especially to those to whom the Exit Bag is recommended. Most patients seek fatal medication, which can be expensive. An Exit Bag goes for only about $30.
"Most people object to the horrible and grotesque death by tying something around your neck," said Dr. Philip Nitschke, leader of Exit Australia. "It's not physiologically distasteful, but it is an aesthetically distasteful death."
Of course, we do not advocate suicide. In fact, if you have suicidal thoughts the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 800-273-8255.
But in other countries, the right-to-die is looked at quite differently.