The issue of assisting people to die at the end of their lives will always be controversial. According to the hemlock society euthanasia offers some control and dignity to those who are suffering at the end of their lives. This organization was started many years ago in a garage in California.
Derek Humphrey, who had assisted his terminally ill wife in her death, was the founder of this organization. The name was inspired by the fact that Socrates had weighed his options and made a choice to die by ingesting a tincture of the plant. The organization attracted a growing membership and local groups all over the nation began meeting and discussing end-of-life issues.
The organization adopted a multi-pronged approach. An important aspect of their activities was to try and change laws and to do this they became involved in the political arena. However, this proved to be a very slow process. Through the years, more and more attention was attracted to this issue. Jack Kervorkian and his machine, the Mercitron attracted attention worldwide. He eventually crossed the line and videotaped himself giving an ALS patient a lethal injection. The tape was aired on 60 minutes and he was eventually charged with second-degree murder.
The sales of the many books written by Derek Humphrey have helped to fund the organization. He wrote a book called Final Exit in 1991 and it became a best seller. This draw worldwide attention to the concept of self-deliverance with medication for the terminally ill. An account published in the New England Journal by a Rochester physician, Timothy Quill, who had helped a patient to die by giving her barbiturates and telling her how much she needed to use, was a first in a medical journal.
Legislation continued to lag behind the growing support for aid in dying. Laws were passed, challenged and rescinded. Some managed to survive such as the Death with Dignity one passed in the state of Oregon. This law has passed its 10th anniversary and according to studies, has mostly been used by educated, terminally ill cancer sufferers. There was a fear that it would be used by the disabled, uninsured and poverty stricken but this has not been the case.
The political struggle to have such laws passed resulted in further research. People looked into other ways to achieve dignified death such as the use of helium gas. The law passed in Oregon has now survived for more than ten years and studies have revealed that it has not been used by the disabled, poverty stricken or uninsured, as was originally feared. Well-educated, cancer sufferers have been the ones to make use of it.
The original organization held many national conferences over the years, began a Patient Advocacy Program and provided much information in the form of pamphlets, books, video and audio tapes. Its quarterly magazine has become the largest of this type of publication in the Western Hemisphere. The national organization does not exist any more, although local chapters do still bear the name. It evolved into End-of-Life Choices and the organization is now called Compassion and Choices.
The organization is now known as Compassion and Choices and continues to advocate towards the openness and legitimacy of aid in death. They believe the patient should have final control and that all the available options should be presented to them. Working at having further laws passed also continues as many states in America still do not have such legislation in place.
Derek Humphrey, who had assisted his terminally ill wife in her death, was the founder of this organization. The name was inspired by the fact that Socrates had weighed his options and made a choice to die by ingesting a tincture of the plant. The organization attracted a growing membership and local groups all over the nation began meeting and discussing end-of-life issues.
The organization adopted a multi-pronged approach. An important aspect of their activities was to try and change laws and to do this they became involved in the political arena. However, this proved to be a very slow process. Through the years, more and more attention was attracted to this issue. Jack Kervorkian and his machine, the Mercitron attracted attention worldwide. He eventually crossed the line and videotaped himself giving an ALS patient a lethal injection. The tape was aired on 60 minutes and he was eventually charged with second-degree murder.
The sales of the many books written by Derek Humphrey have helped to fund the organization. He wrote a book called Final Exit in 1991 and it became a best seller. This draw worldwide attention to the concept of self-deliverance with medication for the terminally ill. An account published in the New England Journal by a Rochester physician, Timothy Quill, who had helped a patient to die by giving her barbiturates and telling her how much she needed to use, was a first in a medical journal.
Legislation continued to lag behind the growing support for aid in dying. Laws were passed, challenged and rescinded. Some managed to survive such as the Death with Dignity one passed in the state of Oregon. This law has passed its 10th anniversary and according to studies, has mostly been used by educated, terminally ill cancer sufferers. There was a fear that it would be used by the disabled, uninsured and poverty stricken but this has not been the case.
The political struggle to have such laws passed resulted in further research. People looked into other ways to achieve dignified death such as the use of helium gas. The law passed in Oregon has now survived for more than ten years and studies have revealed that it has not been used by the disabled, poverty stricken or uninsured, as was originally feared. Well-educated, cancer sufferers have been the ones to make use of it.
The original organization held many national conferences over the years, began a Patient Advocacy Program and provided much information in the form of pamphlets, books, video and audio tapes. Its quarterly magazine has become the largest of this type of publication in the Western Hemisphere. The national organization does not exist any more, although local chapters do still bear the name. It evolved into End-of-Life Choices and the organization is now called Compassion and Choices.
The organization is now known as Compassion and Choices and continues to advocate towards the openness and legitimacy of aid in death. They believe the patient should have final control and that all the available options should be presented to them. Working at having further laws passed also continues as many states in America still do not have such legislation in place.
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