Euthanasia Essay: The Hemlock Society and Assisted Suicide

hemlock Society, Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide   Dori Zook, Hemlock Society public dealing director, claims that Hemlock supports legalization of physician- assisted death only in cases of final stage illness. And Hemlocks website asserts that the Society favors physician-assisted suicide strictly for someone who is already in the decease process. But there is a glaring discrepancy between this semiofficial stance and what prominent members of Hemlock have said and done.   For example, there is this diminutive gem from Hemlock co-founder Derek Humphrys book, Final Exit What can those of us who interpret with a justified suicide by a handicapped soul do to help? When we have statutes on the books permitting lawful physician aid-in-dying for the termin in ally ill, I believe that along with this reform there will interject a more tolerant attitude to the other exceptional cases.   Or take the actions of Hemlock leaders in the case of Elizabeth Bouvia. Writing round the Bouvia case, Humphrey expressed Hemlocks support of the right to voluntary euthanasia for a individual terminally ill, or severely handicapped and deteriorating.... Hemlock Quarterly 14 (1984). But Ms Bouvia was not deteriorating. Cerebral palsy is not degenerative. The unrestricted term deteriorating can be made to mean almost anything in order to justify a disabled persons suicide. Bouvias lawyers, led by Richard Scott, another(prenominal) co-founder of Hemlock, distorted the nature of her disability, likening her to a terminal patient. Were Plaintiff Bouvia an 84-year-old char whose life was prolonged solely by various tubes and numerous machines, they argued in the Riverside Superior Court, and she sought to end such an existence, it is doubtf... ...rejudice against people with disabilities, they moldiness publicly denounce Jack Kevorkians bigotry.   The statements and actions noted above are uncomplete stray, nor taken out of context. RTD leaders, time afte r time, have demonstrated the aforementioned(prenominal) willingness to promote this final solution to the problems of people with disabilities. Taken together, these words and whole kit and caboodle mark a clear and consistent pattern of promoting assisted suicide for people with disabilities.   Why, then do RTD leaders now claim to counselor a narrower application of assisted suicide? Perhaps they tailor their pith depending on the immediate political climate and who they think is listening. For the benefit of all of us who are listening, we call on Hemlock, its leaders, and allies to come previous with boldness and honesty to clearly state their complete agenda.