Dear Inquirer,

Euthanasia Briefing
Thank you for your inquiry seeking more information on the subject of
voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide. As you have probably realized,
this is a subject with considerable scope and complexity. It cannot be
summed up in a note or an interview.

As a well-known author in this particular field, see

http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B000AQ1V2K, Consequently I get hundreds of
inquiries such as yours. I just do not have the time to answer them all
individually. I cannot give interviews. My own words are in the web
essays and in my books, some of which can be downloaded at
www.finalexit.org/ergo-store My five books on the subject are in libraries, or
more cheaply at used bookstores under ‘Death and Dying.’

There is my updated Chronology of the Right to Die Movement from

l906 to 2009 at this site in Australia:
http://www.vesnsw.org.au/ves/index.php/index/Articles/an-international-timeline-
09

By the way, the Hemlock Society USA, which I founded and ran for
its first 12 years, no longer exists. It was taken over by other
organizations. It lasted 1980-2003. The story of its life and untimely death
is told at www.assistedsuicide.org Incidentally, this year (2009) three
original Hemlock chapters still exist – Hemlock Society of Florida, Hemlock
of Illinois and Hemlock Society of San Diego

Choices in dying is an important issue, so I will try in this briefing to

provide clues enabling you to go in the right direction to give your project
the best possible quality.

DEFINITIONS: ‘Voluntary euthanasia’ means the patient choosing

hastened death by lethal injection by a doctor (only legal in Holland and
Belgium). “Assisted suicide’ means a doctor helping a person die by oral
lethal prescribed overdose (legal in Oregon, Washington, Switzerland,
Holland and Belgium.) Suicide (by whatever means and for whatever
reasons) is no longer illegal in the secular democracies. Assisted suicide
by people other than doctors is illegal everywhere, except Switzerland.

The only states in the USA that allow physician-assisted suicide

(since l994) are (l994) OREGON and (2009) Washington. The US Supreme
Court reviewed the Oregon law and on January 17, 2006, declined by a vote
of 6-3 the Bush administration’s demand to strike it down. Montana
currently has physician-assisted suicide for the dying but it has still to be
reviewed by high courts to test if it can remain in position. (May 2009)

For the official reports on the Oregon Death With Dignity Act, visit

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http://oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/ar-index.shtml In my view, it has worked well.

In November of 2008 there was a ballot initiative

in Washington State asking citizens to pass a law similar to the one in
Oregon permitting physician-assisted suicide for the dying (but not
euthanasia. ) It passed 58-41 per cent and became effective in March of
2009
The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium have legalized both
voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, while Switzerland has
permitted justifiable assisted suicide for 60 years. The British Parliament
has recently been debating an assisted suicide law for the terminally ill,
similar to Oregon’s, but in the final debate in the House of Lords the Bill
was defeated.

It was the 8th time since l935 that law reform on assisted suicide has
been defeated in the UK parliament, despite the well-known fact that some
80 percent of Britons want such changes.

First visit www.FinalExit.org/ and go step by step through the

categories listed on the left on the first page. You might like to reproduce
(because it has no copyright) the manifesto ‘Liberty and Death’ just issued
at http://www.finalexit.org/liberty_and_death_manifesto_right_to_die.html

On the same web page, there are links to movies about hastened deaths,
essays by me on various aspects, and links to more books and news
stories.

Then click on www.assistedsuicide.org to see how the USA and

countries all over the world have handled with their laws on hastened death.
(This is probably the only such list in the world.) There are also essays there by me
on the future of the right-to-die movement, and what happened to the Hemlock
Society. You may quote from these provided the source is given.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who had been in prison in Michigan since 1999
for the ‘murder’ of Thomas Youk who was terminal and wanted to die, was
freed after nine years. Go to www.FinalExit.org/whoswho/ Kevorkian
was released on parole on June 1, 2007, and he is banned from helping
anyone else to die.

If you are looking for statistical background on euthanasia, go to this

good website: http://trinity.edu/MKEARL/dtheuth.html

Now I know from experience that you want a personal statement

from me to include in your project. So here’s a direct quote from me to
you:

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 “The right to choose to die when terminally or hopelessly ill is to me
the ultimate civil and personal liberty. People are not a free people unless
they are able die according to, and at the time of, their selection. While
suicide is no longer a crime anywhere, assisted suicide remains a felony
everywhere except the U.S. States of Oregon, Washington, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland. This prohibition is legally and
philosophically unacceptable. And if those particular states can allow it,
under strict guidelines, why not the rest of the world?”

“You may ask: why don’t people just kill themselves if that’s what
they want? Answer: Here we are not talking about mentally ill people
whose agonies drive them to seek death by gun or jumping; we are
referring to dying or hopelessly ill people whose bodies are by now
decimated and their strength and mobility limited. Anyway, they do not
want a violent death -- they wish it to be gentle and most likely in the
presence of their loved ones.”

--Source of these quotes: private email to you from Derek Humphry (date
as shown on email)

To view the world scene on euthanasia, best to go to

www.worldrtd.net

Now I know you all want to get ‘instant information’ off the Internet.
Well, I have lots of facts, figures and essays on the web, as you can see.
But there are some excellent hardcopy books available on the subject. If
you can’t afford them new, my books are widely available in used book
stores or on the used book market on the web. Cost: a couple of dollars.

To obtain my books via the web or download as an eBook, go to

www.finalexit.org/ergo-store. Some can be downloaded at small cost. In
April of 2007, the editors and books critics of USA TODAY newspaper
selected ‘Final Exit’ as one of the 25 most memorable books of the last
quarter century.

Good luck with your project! Remember always to keep cool,

balanced, and treat the facts on both sides of the argument fairly.

Sincerely yours,

DEREK HUMPHRY (1930-)

President, Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization (ERGO).
Founder of the original Hemlock Society USA, l980-2003.

October 2009

P.S.

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At this web site, there is a manifesto concerning the basic principles of the right to
choose to die. It is not copyright, and you may reproduce it in full for your project
provided the source is properly attributed. Go to

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

Bibliography: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B000AQ1V2K