Richard N. Côté - In search of gentle death: The fight for your right to die with dignity

In Search of Gentle Death

The Fight for Your Right to Die

with Dignity

Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina

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Publishers Cataloging-in-Publication Data

( Provided by Quality Books, Inc. )

Ct, Richard N., 1945-

In search of gentle death: the fight for your right to die with dignity / Richard N. Ct. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

LCCN 2011900559

ISBN-13: 9781929175369 (trade hardcover edition)

ISBN-13: 9781929175437 (Amazon Kindle edition)

ISBN-13978192917537X (ePub /Android edition)

ISBN-13: 9781929175505 (PDF on USB flash drive edition)

1. Right to die. 2. Death. 3. Assisted suicide.

I. Title.

R726.C68 2012 179.7

QBI11-600128

BISAC categories:

SOC036000 / Social sciences (death and dying)

MED 050000 / Medical ethics

MED 042000 / Medicine terminal care

Hardcover edition, first printing, April 2012

Kindle version 2.1 , August 21 , 2012

This book is printed in the United States of America on archival-quality paper that meets the paper quality and binding standards for performance and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity for the Council on Library Resources.

Cts history of the international Death With Dignity Movement combines a monumental amount of research with a writing style that will appeal to anyone interested in end-of-life issues and the pursuit of a good death. Insider information and personal revelations about individuals not previously reported make this a must read . Richard MacDonald, M.D., former medical director Hemlock Society USA .

A well-written, engrossing look at the international right-to-die movement. Ct has done extensive research and knows the leaders in every country where there is a struggle for the right to receive legal assisted dying. Faye E. Girsh, Ed.D., past president Hemlock Soc i ety USA ; president (2012) World Federation of Right to Die Soci e ties.

We are all unique individuals, which makes it unsurprising that there are many contrasting views on assisted dying. Richard Cts extremely well- researched book, based on extensive personal interviews, expertly draws out these nuances as they have evolved in Australia and New Zealand . Rodney Syme, M.D., author, A Good Death ; vice-president Death With Dignity-Victoria , Australia .

Our movement, as is any concerted human endeavor, is a patchwork quilt of personality and diversity in approach to achieve an end. Ct has masterfully brought a sense of cohesion to the portrayal of this effort. Thomas E. Ted Goodwin, cofounder of the Final Exit Network and former president of the board of directors of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.

This fascinating book is the first to describe in gripping detail the long worldwide fight for choice at the end of life. A well-written, must-read for all who support the death-with-dignity cause. Elizabeth Libby Wilson, M.D., founder of Friends-at-the-End (FATE), Glasgow , Scotland .

Dr. Jack Kevorkians uncompromising position on physician-assisted suicide and his struggles to implement societal change are well-documented and impartially presented through Cts extensive research and balanced presentation. Neal Nicol, professional colleague of Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

Never before Ct has anyone documented in such depth and detail the fight for the right to die with dignity in Canada and the men and women who have made it possible. Ruth von Fuchs, president the Right to Die Society of Canada.

Table of Contents

A book such as this one has not been published before b e cause the euthanasia movement has exploded worldwide since 1990. Death-with-dignity laws have been passed in Australia , the Netherlands , Belgium , Luxembourg , and the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington . Assisted suicide has been legalized in Switzerland and decriminalized in Colombia and the state of Montana . But who are the dedicated ind i viduals behind the new and forceful campaigns for choices in dying?

Whilst I did not start the right-to-die movement, which began in a small way in the 1930s, I am credited with kick-starting the modern version in America in the 1980s with the controversial Hemlock Society with its innovative how-to books and unusual legislative campaigns.

The progress of choice in dying in the last twenty years has been phenomenal and continues to accelerate, thanks to the many fine people who stepped forward to give their ta l ents and labor to this noble cause. This book records their struggles against antiquated laws, bigotry, medical pedantry, political nervousness, andmost of allunrelenting rel i gious opposition. There were many casualties along the way as some found that they could not bear the strain of fierce controversy, media attacks, and public vilification, which this hot-button subject attracts.

Many people joined this campaign because of a harro w ing personal experience in the death of a loved one or close friend. But others joined because their philosophy of life and ethics demanded that there be freedom of choice both in a womans right to an abortion and chosen dying.

My first wife, Jean, witnessed her mother die of lung ca n cer in appalling pain and distress because nobody had pr e pared, medically and psychologically, for the end. Jean came away traumatized. Thus, when she was herself dying from breast cancer, she planned nearly a year ahead for an accele r ated death on her own terms. And implemented it. My su b sequent memoir, Jeans Way, over the next thirty-odd years slowly helped point the way to a more compassionate unde r standing of the feelings and rights of the dying.

Jeans plan to ask me for assistance, a doctor to provide lethal drugs, and then to wait until the end is near, is in fact the practical basis of the Oregon and Washington physician-assisted suicide laws, the first in North America . More ca m paigns are underway.

From the start, back in the 1980s, those of us who were pushing for the right to die in a manner and at a time of our own choosing knew that we needed support from the medical profession. After all, doctors alone have legal access to ser i ous drugs as well as being experienced judges of the dying process. For a long time, we reached out for such backing; yet it was slow in coming. When medical support did come it was mostly from retired physicians. Still, as significant public support became apparent, courageous doctors like Timothy Quill, Richard MacDonald, Elizabeth Libby Wi l son, Philip Nitschke, and Michael Irwin no longer confined their work to the bedside. Instead, they jumped into the pu b lic arena, regardless of the flak.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian I regard as a special case. Gutsy and flamboyant, he helped to die some 130 people who requested his assistance. The news media adored him. His one-man crusade aimed to shame the medical profession into being more merciful with dying patients. Unfortunately, it did not work. Too many doctors were upset at the speed at which he helped people, leaving no time for careful assessment of their needs.