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TV show discusses use of the helium hood method of self-deliverance

May 21st, 2013 by

Discussion on TV of the helium hood method

Another sign of the public acceptance of assisted suicide for the terminally ill was a unusual scene on Monday, 20 May 2013, in the successful series program “The Big C” shown on the Showtime television channel in America and internationally.
This was the closure of the fourth and final season when the main character, played by Laura Linney as Catherine “Cathy” Jamison, who has been diagnosed with terminal (stage IV) melanoma several years previously, faces her end. She is now in hospice, which she loves and admires.
As she prepares to die, Cathy has a discussion of people round her bedside of the ways to accelerate death. There is a serious discussion of using a lethal overdose and then the helium hood method is considered in detail, using two tanks. Cathy remarks that it is not very dignified to have to put a plastic bag over one’s head but she does not dismiss the idea.
Then follows an unrealistic scene where somebody says that a doctor in Oregon will supply the lethal drugs provided somebody will fly from the east coast to get them. Cathy asks her brother to go for the drugs but he avoids this request. (It is most unlikely that any doctor in Oregon would do this; it would jeopardize his medical license.)
The character Cathy dies soon after from a natural cause.
The Big C is a Showtime original television series created by Darlene Hunt. It is a very tasteful and sincere program looking at the realities of death and dying. Taking in the self-deliverance option added to its significance.
—– Derek Humphry, author, Final Exit, and How to Make Your Own Helium Hood Kit

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Film/TV/Radio, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, RTD News, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

International right-to-die conference in Chicago

May 15th, 2013 by

World conference on choices in dying

For details about the 20th biennial conference of the World Federation
of Right to Die Societies, to be hosted in Chicago next year by the
Final Exit Network, go to this new link:

www.WFconf2014.com

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, Hemlock, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations | No Comments »

Vermont becoming first US state to legislate physician-assisted suicide

May 14th, 2013 by

The Vermont House and Senate have now both approved the same version of a law based on Oregon’s model Death with Dignity legislation, and the bill now heads to the governor’s desk for signature.
In the past, Governor Shumlin has indicated he’ll sign the bill if it reaches his desk. With the Governor’s signature, Vermont will become the third state with an assisted dying law and the first state to enact this law through a legislative process — a historic achievement.
The bill now heads to Governor Shumlin’s desk for final approval. With his signature, Vermont will take the historic step of becoming the first state to enact Death with Dignity through a legislative process.
The similar Oregon and Washington laws were passed by voters’ initiatives.

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Montana’s physician-assisted suicide law survives

Apr 15th, 2013 by

Montana Senate rejects bill banning doctor-assisted suicide

The Montana Senate has rejected a measure that would have made it illegal for doctors and caregivers to help terminally ill people kill themselves.
House Bill 505 was struck down 15 April 2013 in a 27-23 floor vote.
The Montana Supreme Court had ruled in 2009 that nothing in state law
prohibits assisted suicide, effectively making Montana the third state
to allow it. The Legislature previously failed to pass a bill regulating
the act, and this proposal would have criminalized it.
The bill’s sponsor said the plan would clarify the court ruling by unequivocally outlawing the procedure.
Other supporters of the bill said physician-assisted suicide is a recipe for elder abuse and the government has a responsibility to protect the vulnerable older population.
But assisted-suicide backers from both sides of the aisle argued the
procedure preserves the dignity and rights of the dying.

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, Hemlock, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

World euthanasia conference is in Chicago next year

Apr 3rd, 2013 by

2014 World Federation 20th Biennial Conference

Final Exit Network, host for the World Federation Right to Die (WFRTD) Societies Meeting, has announced the venue for the 2014 World Federation 20th Biennial Conference. The date of the conference is September 17 to 21, 2014, Wednesday through Sunday, and it will be held at the Embassy Suites Downtown/Lakefront Hotel, Chicago, Illinois.

The conference venue is the flagship hotel of U.S. Embassy Suites Hilton properties, an all-suites hotel with a sophisticated design concept and spectacular views of Chicago. Rooms are offered with the option of a King or two Queen beds; in addition, all suites have a living room/work area, a wet bar, microwave, and refrigerator and two 37-inch TVs, one in the living room and one in the bedroom.

The suite-concept will make the meeting much more luxurious for all attendees and encourage networking and socializing. The host, Final Exit Network, has secured an excellent price with considerable savings for early registration — $190 per night for early hotel registration ($225 after early registration). Conference registration will be $325 for early registration ($400 after late registration cutoff date). Early conference registration will open June 2013; hotel registration opens September 2013. Early registration will be open for at least six months from the beginning dates of registration. A conference website address will be announced in May.

The hotel is a short two-block walk to shopping on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, three blocks to Lake Michigan and the Navy Pier, within comfortable walking distance of popular restaurants in a wide variety of price ranges. Two gourmet groceries are within one block and museums, art galleries, public transportation, public parks, walking trails, and any number of other amenities are all nearby. A full hot and cold breakfast and evening reception are included in the price of the room. More details will be published in subsequent communications.

The FEN WF conference planning committee is creating an inspiring schedule with world-class speakers in the RTD movement. With the theme “Dignity, Control, Choice – Around the World,” the committee is focusing on leaders who work on the front lines of legal and philosophical right to die issues throughout the world. Delegates will join FEN hosts to share the latest news, will have the opportunity to network with each other, and will work together to promote the agendas of RTD societies around the world.

Everyone is invited and welcome to join Final Exit Network hosts and World Federation delegates and to be a part of this inspiring opportunity. Plan now to join us in Chicago.
www.finalexitnetwork.org

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Events/Conferences, Final Exit Network, Hemlock, People in the News, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Final Exit Network’s ex-president is cleared

Mar 23rd, 2013 by

The case against assisted-suicide advocate thrown out

HASTINGS, Minn. — A Minnesota judge has dismissed charges against the former head of a national right-to-die group accused in the death of an Apple Valley woman.
Judge Karen Asphaug ruled Minnesota’s law against advising suicide is unconstitutionally overbroad. She dismissed charges against Thomas Goodwin, former president of Final Exit Network.
Last year, four members of the group were charged in the 2007 death of Doreen Dunn, who killed herself in her home. Prosecutors said the defendants provided Dunn with information and support to follow through with her suicide.
Final Exit members claim they do not encourage suicide, but that the act of giving information and emotional support could be interpreted as “encouraging” under Minnesota’s assisted-suicide law. They claim the law is unconstitutional because it violates a person’s right to freedom of speech.

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Dead, death, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, Hemlock, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance | No Comments »

673 chose assisted suicide in 15 years in Oregon

Feb 8th, 2013 by

The Oregon Death With Dignity Act, 15 years on:

As of January 14, 2013, prescriptions for lethal medications were
written for 115 people during 2012 under the provisions of the Death
With Dignity Act (DWDA), compared to 114 during 2011.

At the time of this report, there were 77 known DWDA deaths during 2012.
This corresponds to 23.5 DWDA deaths per 10,000 total deaths.

* Since the law was passed in 1997, a total of 1,050 people have had
DWDA prescriptions written and 673 patients have died from ingesting
medications prescribed under the DWDA.

* Of the 115 patients for whom DWDA prescriptions were written during
2012, 67 (58.3%) ingested the medication; 66 died from ingesting the
medication, and one patient ingested the medication but regained
consciousness before dying of underlying illness and is therefore not
counted as a DWDA death. The patient regained consciousness two days
following ingestion, but remained minimally responsive and died six days
following ingestion.

* Eleven (11) patients with prescriptions written during the previous
year (2011) died after ingesting the medication during 2012.
* Twenty-three (23) of the 115 patients who received DWDA prescriptions
during 2012 did not take the medications and Continue Reading »

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Earl Wettstein, campaiger extraordinaire, dies

Jan 20th, 2013 by

Obituary: Earl Wettstein, outstanding campaigner
The right-to-die movement has lost one of its most dynamic characters with the death of Earl Wettstein, of Arizona, from a heart attack at the age of 81.
After watching his Aunt Gladys beg for help in her dying process but getting none, Earl volunteered his talents and lobbied legislatively for ten years for the movement. “If I were boss of the world, doctors would be allowed to give lethal injections to terminally ill people in great pain and suffering who requested it,” he said.
After serving in the Army from l953 for two years, he gained a bachelor’ s degree in journalism at the University of Minnesota. He went into advertising and marketing in Tucson, always finding time to do pro bono work for various nonprofit organizations.
After the experience with his auntie, Earl joined the Hemlock Society, soon heading up the Arizona branch, its oldest and largest chapter, also known as Arizonans for Death With Dignity. Dissatisfied with its size, he went around the state campaigning, starting nine sub-chapters. Whenever there was a prospect of legislative action, Earl spent hours at the statehouse lobbying for support.
With his genial personality, sincerity and communication skills, people would listen to Earl even if they didn’t always agree. He was brilliant at coaxing top class speakers to the Hemlock meetings.
His friend and colleague John Abraham said: “In addition to being a ‘doer’, Earl had great integrity, a good sense of humor and an unimpeachable character. His integrity to the cause was thorough and unflagging. He will be missed.”
Earl joined the national board of the Hemlock Society USA in 2001 but, unhappy with the way the organization was drifting, did not seek re-election in 2003. The next year he was one of the driving forces behind the founding of the Final Exit Network which sought to emulate Hemlock’s Caring Friends philosophy.
Elected the Network’s first president, he did so as long it was for a year only, and shouldered much of the slog of starting a new national organization. Then he retired to his studio to follow his love of painting and writing, punctured by the occasional outburst of enthusiastic support for his favorite cause. Few people give as much public service, or as effectively, as Earl Wettstein did. -– Derek Humphry

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, Hemlock, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

‘Final Exit’ book tells everybody, say Network lawyer

Dec 18th, 2012 by

The Pioneer Press in Minnesota reported on 18 December 2012:
Right-to-die group argues free speech in Apple Valley assisted suicide case

A national right-to-die-group argued on Dec. 18 that its role in
the suicide of an Apple Valley woman, which included instructions on the
best way to die by asphyxiation, was protected as free speech.
Four members of Final Exit Network face charges of connected to the
death of Doreen Dunn, who died by suicide in May 2007 after struggling
with chronic, debilitating pain, though she was not terminally ill.
Dunn joined the group earlier that year, reportedly writing a letter
that explained her condition. Members pay a one-time fee of about $50
and also submit medical records.
Two of the group’s members later traveled to Minnesota as “exit guides”
and were in Dunn’s home when she died, according to authorities and
travel records.
About a dozen Final Exit Network supporters, some from out of state, came to the courtroom to watch the proceedings.
According to prosecutors, guides usually visit members before a suicide,
help them practice the method — typically asphyxiation by inhaling
helium from a plastic bag placed over the head — offer moral support
and comfort, and remove evidence of the suicide after the fact if asked
to do so.
Charges against four members including aiding suicide, which are
felonies, and interfering with a death scene, a gross misdemenaor.
Attorneys for the defendants told Dakota County District Court Judge
Karen Asphaug Tuesday that the group did nothing more than provide
readily available information and moral support to
Dunn.
Even that is a crime under Minnesota law, which bars advising,
encouraging or assisting someone in taking his or her own life. But the
defense team says the advising and encouraging portions should be thrown
out as unconstitutional because they infringe on free speech without
sufficient justification.
Robert Rivas, a Florida attorney for Final Exit Network, said the information on suicide by helium inhalation is readily available from numerous sources,
include the 1991 book by Derek Humphry “Final Exit” from which the group takes its name.
“The speech that Final Exit Network is being prohibited from making in this case is speech that is being made every day Continue Reading »

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Books, death, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Hemlock, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Are you able to help ERGO with a contribution?

Dec 12th, 2012 by

Message from Derek Humphry at ERGO
This time of year I ask if you can make a contribution to ERGO (Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization). Gifts are tax-deductible because ERGO is nonprofit 501c3 with an IRS tax ID # of 93-111834. www.finalexit.org
Although we earn a modest amount of money daily from the sales of exclusively right-to-die books, ebooks, DVDs and literature (mainly ‘Final Exit’) it is not enough to run the organization, cautious as we are. Fees, printing, postage, utilities, travel and lodging are rising, as probably you have noticed.
ERGO has always been the backer and sponsor of the research workshops (NuTech*) looking for ways in which a terminally ill adult can bring life to a peaceful, nonviolent conclusion, and where drugs and doctors are not involved. NuTech developed the helium hood method of self-deliverance which has been used by hundreds of dying persons in the past ten years. ERGO continues to look for other methods, so will be assembling workshops over the next few years.
The FBI closed down Sharlotte Hydorn’s kit-making operation last year (GLADD). In response, ERGO immediately produced a pamphlet on how to make a kit. www.finalexit.org/ergo-store Thousands have been distributed.
ERGO has always pioneered lawful, medical-assisted suicide for the dying, but until that way is universal there is a need for personal, special sources for those facing their end now and interested in knowing how.
Daily ERGO talks to people via internet, mail and telephone helping them with a range of inquiries. News reporters are briefed and student inquiries fulfilled. Two web sites, a virtual bookstore, a blog and a news list are maintained. You may have seen ERGO’s contribution to the recent FRONTLINE TV documentary? http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/suicide-plan/
ERGO has no staff, pays no rent. It’s all voluntary. (Some skilled tasks are outsourced and remunerated.)
If you feel you can help financially support ERGO in its work of communicating the essence of choice in dying well, it can be done via the internet by going to the very last icon on this web site: http://www.finalexit.org/ergo-store/
Or pop a check in the mail to
ERGO
24829 Norris Lane
Junction City OR 97448

Thank you. And Seasons Greetings! Derek Humphry, President ergo@finalexit.org 12/12/12
————————————————–
*Re NuTech

http://www.finalexit.org/ergo_nutech_new_technology.html

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Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Books, death, Derek Humphry, Euthanasia, Final Exit, GLADD, Hemlock, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

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