June 29, 2004
Two right-to-die groups plan merger for 2005
The Associated Press
PORTLAND - Two leading groups in the right-to-die movement plan to merge under a new name.
The boards of the Oregon-based Compassion in Dying Federation and Denver-based End-of-Life Choices met this month in a Denver hotel to discuss budgets, fund raising, political strategy and other issues.
The leaders decided to continue negotiating a formal merger, which would likely happen in 2005, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
The working name for the merging group is Compassion and Choices.
End-of-Life Choices is the nation's oldest and largest organization in the right-to-die movement. Formerly known as the Hemlock Society, it was founded in 1980 by Derek Humphry, whose self-help guide to euthanasia, ``Final Exit,'' has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
Humphry resigned as executive director in 1992. The Hemlock Society name was dropped last year to broaden the group's political appeal. Hemlock is a poisonous herb; after Socrates was sentenced to death in ancient Greece, he was forced to drink a cup of hemlock.
The Oregon group has led the legal defense of the nation's only doctor-assisted suicide law, which has come under attack from the Bush administration. Under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, a doctor can prescribe a lethal dose of medication for a terminally ill patient who requests it in writing and meets other requirements.
During the six-year history of the law, 171 Oregonians have died by doctor-assisted suicide. Officials of the two groups said a merger would benefit both.
``There's a huge overlap between the two groups, said Claire Simons, a spokeswoman for the Compassion in Dying Federation. ``We have very similar agendas.''
She said the merger would strengthen the right-to-die movement nationally and help bring Oregon's experience to the attention of other states.
``We're tired of being the sprouts-chewing liberals out in Oregon,'' she said. ``We need another state'' to legalize doctor-assisted suicide.
David Brand, executive director of End-of-Life Choices, said the merger is almost a sure thing.
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/06/29/c2.or.righttomerge.0629.html
He also carefully chose patients that were capable of pulling the handle. If that's all that is allowed than what happens to people who are comatose? Even if they had signed paperwork in advance they'd never be able to pull the lever, switch, etc..
