The Hemlock Society of San Diego is a 36-year-old 501 (c)(3), not for profit, volunteer, educational organization. Our mission is to provide education about all end of life choices. We believe that people should be able to die consistent with their own beliefs and values and with proper, current information. We are funded by private donations and membership fees which are tax deductible. Legacies gifts are welcome and should be directed to the Hemlock Society of San Diego. Tax ID #: 33-0467982,
The Mission of the Hemlock Society of San Diego:
Choice, Dignity and Control at the end of life.
I am very thankful to be a member of such a meaningful
and perfectly conducted Society and all the amazing people who make it possible! -Hemlock Member
What We Do
- Provide Education about end of life choices with public meetings six times a year. We have heard from Derek Humphry, author of Final Exit; from Neal Nicol, biographer of Jack Kevorkian; from Dick Mac Donald MD, Medical Advisor, Final Exit Network; Kathryn Tucker, attorney, civil rights for the terminally ill advocate and director of the End of Life Liberty Project; Deborah Ziegler, mother of Brittany Maynard, and many more.
- Provide speakers on the subject of the California End of Life Option Act , advance directives and other topics related to the right to die issues.
- Support options for a humane, self-determined death by contributing to campaigns for law reform, legal defense, and the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
- Publish newsletter with information about developments worldwide six times a year.
- Bring like-minded people together to discuss end-of-life choices.
- Provide resource information such as international books, pamphlets, DVDs.
- We are proud members of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
What We Believe
LIBERTY AND DEATH
A Manifesto Concerning an Individual’s Right to Choose to Die
By Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society
In a spirit of compassion for all, this manifesto proclaims that every competent adult has the incontestable right to humankind’s ultimate civil and personal liberty — the right to die in a manner and at a time of their own choosing.
Suicide no longer being a crime, it is unacceptable to prosecute well-meaning people for assisting a suicide.
Medically hastened death by request should be made lawful as it is now in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the American states of California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Montana (each has different rules).
Views on the dying process contrary to those expressed in this manifesto are respected, but must not trump the autonomy of the dying person’s own decisions.