Is Medical Aid in Dying a Human Right?
This post looks critically at the view that Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) is not a human right.
A hard look at the landscape of death and dying
A member of the Final Exit Network, who wishes to remain anonymous, explains what pancreatic cancer has been like for him.
Disability activist slams right-to-die (RTD) law proposed in Minnesota
The Minnesota State House of Representatives and Senate are considering companion End-of-Life Option Act bills, and committee hearings have begun. Since Minnesota is the state that will not permit even discussing end-of-life options among those who might want to decide the timing of their deaths with people who are experienced in how to achieve peaceful deaths on our own terms, it seems surprising that right-to-die (RTD) bills have been introduced in its legislature. Nevertheless, opponents of the RTD are amping up their arguments against such legislation.
Exploring Compassion & Choices’ approach to dementia, Part 2
In its new "Dementia Values & Priorities Tool," Compassion and Choices (C&C) helps people clarify their wishes if they acquire dementia. They offer a satisfactory, though limited, list of dementia-related symptoms (discussed in Part 1). In Part 2, I have identified a few other (or slightly different) symptoms that are important to me in the event that I lose the ability to hasten my own death because of dementia or some unexpected reason, such as a stroke or other event that renders me incapable of carrying out a hastened death. Part 2 concludes an analysis of C&C's approach to dementia.
Huntington’s Disease and a self-controlled death
This post describes the disease that killed Woody Guthrie–Huntington's Disease–and provides the story of a man who struggled with the disease until he could bear it no longer.
A Self-Deliverance in California
Jim Van Buskirk relates a poignant experience that led to his joining the Final Exit Network.
The taboo surrounding discussions of a self-controlled death
A recent article in the Washington Post produced by Kaiser Health News and written by Melissa Bailey asserts that openly discussing a self-controlled death, no matter how rational the discussion, is viewed by some people as "subversive" or, at least, out of the ordinary or suspect.
A self-controlled death: More thoughts on the language we use
Suicide is not merely too harsh or blunt or embarrassing or unpleasant or offensive when applied to a self-controlled death. It is inaccurate based on its meaning and associations accumulated over time. The search for more accuracy in our descriptions continues.
Opposing the right to die
One of the most organized efforts to defeat right-to-die (RTD) legislation wherever it is proposed is spear-headed by Not Dead Yet (NDY) under its current President, Diane Coleman. NDY claims to represent, or be representative of, at least 12 disability rights groups who oppose RTD legislation. Coleman's failed appeal to Maine Governor Janet Mills to veto the RTD law, passed narrowly by Maine's legislature, presents an outline of the arguments used to oppose such RTD laws.
Focus on aid in dying in Spain
Asunción Álvarez del Río, PhD, a FEN member in Mexico City, reports on the status of aid in dying in Spain.