'Exit Bags' Stir Up Death Debate

July 17 -- It's a one-size-fits-all, hood-shaped plastic bag, and it's fast becoming one of the most prescribed forms of euthanasia worldwide.

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."

Physician-assisted suicide is only legal in a handful of places around the world, most notably Holland and Switzerland. In the United States, the Supreme Court has ruled that assisted suicide is not a constitutional right, leaving the decision to the states. The issue has come to referendum six times in five states — Maine, Washington, Oregon, California and most recently, Hawaii, where the motion passed the state's House but failed in the Senate.

The referendum in Oregon in 1997 led to the nation's first Death with Dignity law. In April, a federal judge thwarted the U.S. Justice Department's attempt to have the voter-approved law overturned.

Exit Australia announced plans to manufacture the industrial plastic bags in Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland last week. The bags had been available over the Internet from a similar Canadian group, but Exit Australia officials said they were worried the Australian government would ban their import.

Nitschke said he hopes to produce about 500 Exit Bags starting at the end of August, "modified a bit here and there" from the Canadian prototype.But government officials and the local church have expressed discomfort and outrage with Exit Australia and its intentions.