My Appointment With Dr. Death
This is an interesting article about Philip Nitschke and his invention, the Sarco euthanasia pod. Click Here to Read the Article
I’m 82, I’ve had enough and because I’m Dutch I can die
"Jonker wants to be one of a growing number of people – almost 400 in 2024 – that are granted euthanasia on these grounds, otherwise known as “an accumulation of geriatric conditions”. They represented almost 4 per cent of the…
San Diego man invites BBC to witness his death as MPs debate assisted dying
You may recognize Dr. Donnie Moore in this article. He is a former member of our board. Click Here to Read the Article
Widow has ‘no regrets’ assisting death of husband at Dignitas
Sky News speaks to a UK woman who is being investigated by police for assisting the death of her husband at Dignitas. Louise Shackleton, whose husband suffered from Motor Neurone Disease, tells her story for the first time. Click here to…
My parents holding hands after their assisted deaths: Martin Roemers’ most personal photograph
'Their lives were getting harder, even with help. They did not want to go to a nursing home and neither wanted to live without the other. So they left this life together.’ Click here to see more
Most Americans Don’t Know About Medical Aid in Dying Options
This is why we do what we do, and why your support of our educational programs matters. "Medical aid in dying (MAID for short) is legal in 10 states—including New Jersey—and Washington, D.C., covering one-fifth of the U.S. population. Despite increasing…
Who chooses medically assisted death?
This is a data-based discussion of who chooses MAID, that addresses the arguments and dispels the myths against it. Last December, researchers in the U.S., Canada, and Europe published a study in JAMA Internal Medicine dedicated to understanding the positives and potential negatives of…
Derek Humphry obituary: Right to die advocate and Hemlock Society founder
Derek Humphry, founder of the National Hemlock Society in 1980, died January 2, 2025, at age 94. Without Derek’s publications, his attempts to change the law to allow aid in dying, and without the powerful national Hemlock Society, there arguably…
Canada Supreme Court to address whether assisted suicide can ever be murder
Alleged suicide kit salesman files in Supreme Court to contest whether assisted suicide can ever be murder Lawyers representing the Ontario man accused of selling hundreds of suicide kits with deadly effect around the globe have filed to intervene in…
Should euthanasia be allowed for those with mental illnesses?
Legislators and doctors are struggling to define who should have the right to die. Milou Verhoof was a physically healthy teenager from the Netherlands when she asked to be allowed to die. For years she had struggled with borderline personality disorder,…
He Helped a Woman End Her Own Life. Was It Manslaughter, or Mercy?
They checked into a motel room in upstate New York, with a gas canister and a plan to end her decades of physical pain. Read the full article on the New York Times' website.
Dutch man facing sentencing in suicide powder case takes his own life
A 77-year-old Dutch man accused of illegally aiding suicide has ended his life days before he was to be sentenced, the public prosecution office has said. Prosecutors had called for a 2.5 year custodial sentence against Tom de M., with…
Lawsuit Says Oregon’s Psilocybin Law Illegally Discriminates Against Homebound Patients Who Can’t Travel To Psychedelic Service Centers
A newly filed federal lawsuit against Oregon officials says the state’s first-in-the-nation psilocybin law discriminates against disabled individuals who can’t travel to designated service centers where the substance is administered, unfairly depriving them of potential benefits to health and well-being.…
Delaware bishop calls on governor to veto aid-in-dying bill
“We ask Delaware Catholics and all people of good will to contact Governor Carney and ask him to stand up for the elderly, sick and disabled, by vetoing this dangerous and immoral legislation,” Bishop William Koenig said in a June…
Nothing Left Unsaid
If you ever find it difficult to talk about your last wishes with your loved ones, this podcast from a mother and her son contains some surprising lessons. At age 88, the mother decided to end her life in Switzerland.…
Poll: Majority of nurses in Finland would legalise euthanasia
A citizens' initiative calling for the legalisation of euthanasia in Finland received the required 50,000 signatures in March and will now proceed to parliament to be debated by MPs. A previous attempt to legalise the practice via a citizens' initiative was rejected…
The last doctor: Assisted dying pioneer tells her patients’ stories
A new book is available by a Canadian MAID provider, Dr. Jean Marmoreo, is now available at your favorite bookseller. The book explores the stories of patients who asked Dr. Marmoreo to end their suffering and how this role has…
A shout out to the Hemlock Society and an interesting POV from Texas
Suicide is a sensitive subject in America. People bristle at the thought. Though organizations like The Hemlock Society have tried to champion the right to decide one’s own fate, Americans have long resisted the notion. Those who support legal euthanasia…
For terminal patients, dying in California may get easier
California could become home to the nation’s most sweeping assisted dying policies with a new bill that would allow dementia patients and out-of-state residents to end their lives here. To read the full article Click Here HSSD endorses SB 1196 and…
‘We need to talk about choice’: woman who ended life at Dignitas urges change to UK law
Her decision to talk about her journey adds to the growing public pressure for reform – including from figures such as Jonathan Dimbleby, whose brother Nicholas recently died with motor neurone disease, and Esther Rantzen, who has lung cancer and…
Opinion: My advice for terminally ill Latinos like me: You have options
By José Alejandro Lemuz "I am dying from prostate cancer that has spread to my bones. But it’s comforting to know that I will likely soon die gently because I plan to use a medical aid-in-dying law championed by civil…
California Senator Introduces New Bill to Expand Medical Aid in Dying!
Through the efforts of Hemlock Society members, who formed a grassroots politicaly lobbying organization called A Better Exit, State Senator Catherine Blackspear has introduced a bill that would expand access to Medical Aid in Dying. Many thanks to Marcia Hofer,…
Solving for X at the End of Life
"Here is what we learned: We are failing at dying. Instead of a time for growth, deep connection, reflection and deliverance, our ends of life are consumed by petty distractions and institutional imperatives. The dying people we interviewed had not…
Dementia and Medical Aid in Dying
Australia's former Chief Scientist, Professor Ian Chubb, discusses dementia and the right to Voluntary Assisted Dying in an emotional and compelling interview. Listen to the 8-minute broadcast here: Click here
‘Duo euthanasia’: In the Netherlands, a famous couple chooses to die together
“I feel like it’s kind of beautiful, honestly, that you’ve lived your life together, you both happen to be gravely ill without a chance of getting better, you’re ready to go, and you would like to go together.” Quote from…
Arizona man accused of assisting in a suicide in New York charged with manslaughter
Miller, who voluntarily surrendered, pleaded not guilty, posted bail and returned to Arizona, according to his attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman. “He’s an 85-year-old man who simply wanted to provide comfort and counseling to someone who couldn’t live with the pain in…
Autistic Dutch woman, 28, who suffered with ME, dies at home by assisted suicide after sharing devastating last post saying: ‘Saturday will be my final day’
Lauren's extreme suffering at only 28 years-old was more harrowing and devasting than her final message. It seems she was at peace for the first time in 5 years and was surrounded by love and acceptance when she died. Her…
How Planning My Death at 52 Helped Me Learn More About How I Wanted to Live
At 52 years-old, she can no longer bear the constant suffering of her deteriorating body. Taking control of her death is the one thing she can do to allow her peace of mind and enjoyment in the final chapter of…
The Facts About Nitrogen Hypoxia by Dr. Philip Nitschke
After the botched execution by Nitrogen gas in Alabama, please read this article by Dr. Philip Nitschke, co-author of The Peaceful Pill Handbook, to learn what Alabama got wrong and how the press is misreporting it. "Nitrogen is an inert…
Will Tennessee Be The Next State to Legalize MAiD?
One Tennessee lawmaker wants to give Tennesseans the “right to die.” Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) filed a bill in the General Assembly this month that would create a process for those suffering terminal diseases to die in a “humane and…
HSSD Member Publishes Op Ed in The Sacramento Bee
Marcia Hofer is a life member of the Hemlock Society, dedicated political activist, and Founding President of A Better Exit (ABE). Her organization's mission is to expand California's End of Life Option Act to allow access to Medical Aid in…
Ya”l Braun-Pivet Advocates for Assisted Dying: A Global Conversation
A French politican speaks out to the world with her support for assisted dying as a controversy continues around the world. Her voice is important to all of us. Click here to read the article
Between Life and Death: Terri Schiavo’s Story – Currently Streaming on Peacock
A new documentary, currently streaming on Peacock, examines the prolonged legal battles and national controversy over whether to keep Terri alive in a persistent vegetative state or disconnect her feeding tube and allow her to die. Click here to read…
Palliative Care Team’s Reports on VSED Reflect Burden on Clinicians, Patients
This is an interesting report from Germany on how caring for terminal cancer patients who choose VSED to hasten their death impacts their clinical caregivers. It's an area that may not be considered in the argument for Medical Aid in…
Voluntary Assisted Dying Now Legal in New South Wales, Australia
Click here to watch the video
Assisted dying ‘allowed me to mostly forget’ fears, says Aussie man hit by brain tumour
When a compassionate, legal option is available, people are not forced to spend their last days, weeks, or months living with agonzing pain and fear. Good on ya, Australia! Click here to read full article
MAID Legislation is Debated in Connecticut at Yale University
Panelists Stephen Latham, director of Yale’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, Thaddeus Pope, bioethicist and professor at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and Jules Good, a disability justice activist and policy analyst, provided insight about MAID from various angles including…
In the shadows of compassion: The aid in dying debate in California
A local San Diego news station aired a segment on differing viewpoints of Medical Aid in Dying. Dr. Bob Uslander is featured in the report and presents some important facts. Click here to watch the video
A Time to Die
A Time to Die is a new documentary film currently airing in the UK on ITV1. The film begins by noting that over 425 million people around the world now have the right to some form of medically assisted suicide. In…
From Australia: Two Years On, End of Life Act Brings Bittersweet for Patients and the Families They Leave Behind
“People are extremely grateful that this service is available to them and are very grateful to the people who are providing that service, when it’s not an easy task for providers to provide assisted dying,” Click here to read full…
Alabama Court Okays Execution by Nitrogen
This development was shared with us by a member. It will be interesting to see if it has any effect on our movement. Click here to read full article
My Dying Mom Confessed to Euthanizing My Grandma. Should I Tell My Family?
The New York Times Magazine’s Ethicist columnist on the complications of honoring a deathbed request. Click here to read full article
End of Life Solutions | ‘Dr. Death’ Created Social Awareness of Assisted Suicide. Where Are We Now?
The video includes a great interview with our former board president, Barry Price! Click here to watch the video
Do the Majority of Disabled People Really Feel Threatened by Medical Aid in Dying?
An alarming Op Ed piece recently appeared in Newsweek (September 11, 2023) stating that California’s End of Life Option Act (EOLOA) violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the author, a Connecticut attorney and disability rights activist, “Amid existing…
People Should Be Able to Die on Their Own Terms
This is an excellent Op Ed by Peter Sussman published in the Orange County Register addressing the current lawsuit against California's End of Life Option Act by a coalition of disability rights groups. Click here to read full article
Disabled Connecticut Woman Speaks Out For Medical Aid in Dying
"For years now, I’ve been testifying before the Delaware General Assembly, pleading with lawmakers to pass “The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law” (House Bill 140), which would allow terminally ill adults like me the option of medical…
Remembering Ken Marshall Watson – 9/7/1921 – 8/18/2023
Ken Watson was a Hemlock Society board member for several years specializing in filming our meetings, interviewing and often hosting our guests, and helping with all things video. His apartment in the Vi Retirement Community was a mini-recording studio with…
Alabama seeks to be first to use nitrogen in executions
We thank our member who shared this news story with us. Click here to read full article
Alzheimer’s: do we focus too much on new treatments?
It is estimated that nearly 500,000 new cases of Alzheimer's disease will be diagnosed this year in the United States. Every 3 seconds, someone in the world develops dementia. MAID is not an option for these people. Have you thought…
I am dying at age 49. Here’s why I have no regrets.
A beautifully written and touching story. Click here to read full article
‘My mother planned her own death for a long time. Why didn’t I believe her?’
When her mother killed herself, Natasha Walter realised she had been living in denial. In a gripping memoir, she reveals how she came to understand the strong, rebellious woman behind this final act Click Here for Full Article
End-of-life Care And Other Palliative Solutions.
Understanding the difference between hospice and palliative care. Click here to watch the video
A Fact Checked Debate on Euthanasia in Canada
Dr. Stefanie Green, Canadian MAID provider and past HSSD speaker, debates Canada's MAID law with Dr. John Maher, a Canadian psychiatrist. The points raised are important and relevant to the U.S. because Canada's law is being closely watched as a…
Some anorexia patients want the right to die. A few doctors are willing to listen
"An oft-cited 2002 article created what’s been nicknamed the rule of thirds: one-third of those with anorexia recover completely, one-third improve and one-third remain chronically ill or die. Just as importantly, studies have found that the likelihood of recovery hasn’t changed…
“When You Read This Article, I Will be Dead”
This is a beautifully written farewell from a Spanish journalist to his readers before he traveled back to Spain to die by euthanasia. Click here for full story
Alzheimer’s Death by VSED
A Minnesota woman with Alzheimer's disease chose to end her life by voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) and wanted to make her story public. Click here for full story
Good Report on MAID in Colorado
A 47-year-old Colorado man suffering with ALS explains why he has chosen to use Medical Aid in Dying. Click here for full story
Landmark moment for Australia as young woman, 23, prepares to take her own life under euthanasia laws because of disorder that keeps her in a constant state of ‘excruciating pain’
A young woman who is unable to move and battles 'excruciating' pain from a rare condition will use euthanasia laws to end her own life. Lily Thai, 23, will die on Wednesday via South Australia's voluntary assisted dying laws, which the state…
For many, a ‘natural death’ may be preferable to enduring CPR
"In 2010 a review of 79 studies, involving almost 150,000 patients, found that the overall rate of survival from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest had barely changed in thirty years. It was 7.6%. Bystander-initiated CPR may increase those odds to 10%." The…
Artist chose medically-assisted death and wanted Canadians to witness the entire process
Click Here to see what doctor-administered euthanasia looks like in Canada.
New York State: Exploring the ‘Death with Dignity’ debate for the terminally ill
Click here for full story
Victoria’s Secret Model Becomes Lightning Rod in Euthanasia Debate
A Victoria's Secret model is the subject of online discussion after publicly sharing the journey of her Canadian grandmother, who is terminally ill and wants to pursue what she describes as euthanasia. Ali Tate Cutler traveled to Canada to visit her…
Important Information Regarding California Adult and Senior Care Licensees and the End of Life Option Act
Please read this memo carefully to know your rights if you are a patient in a licensed California adult or senior care facility. EOLOA adult care licenses 04-19-2023
Here’s where human composting is legal, and the states still considering it
The state of Washington that first legalized human composting — otherwise referred to as natural organic reduction — in 2019. Colorado and Oregon legalized the green burial method in 2021. Vermont and California followed suit in 2022, and earlier this year, New York became the sixth state to allow…
Vermont Gov. Scott signs bill to allow medical aid in dying for nonresidents
The bill was prompted in part by a Connecticut woman with cancer who sued the state last summer claiming its residency requirement violated the Constitution’s commerce clause. She reached a settlement with the state earlier this year allowing her to…
Hospices not complying with state law
Sixteen months after California began requiring health care providers, including home health agencies and hospices, to post on their websites their medical aid in dying policies, only a handful are complying. Click here to read KPBS's story on hospices not…
They’re Severely Mentally Ill. Is It Ethical to Help Them Die?
New York Times podcast on YouTube: Click Here to Listen
Daniel Ellsberg Diagnosed With Terminal Cancer – A Letter to the Editor by Faye Girsh
As most of you may recall, Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American political activist, and former United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study…
Hospice for Jimmy Carter – Letter to the S.D. Union Tribune by Faye Girsh
In 2015, Former President Jimmy Carter announced he had been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (cancer) - found during a surgery on his liver - that had spread to his brain. After a series of hospital stays, he chose to enter…
I’m a Solo-Ager and I’ve Hired a Death Doula
This is a very information story by an 80 year-old journalist diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer and COPD revealing her reasons for hiring a death doula. Click here for full story
Vermont permits woman from another state to end her life via assisted suicide
A decision was reached in a Vermont court allowing a woman from Connecticut to receive MAID there. Oregon is the only other state that allows MAID for nonresidents. Click here for full story
Catholic health care restrictions lead WA Legislature to eye changes
After years of unchecked mergers, nearly half of Washington state’s hospital beds are in Catholic-affiliated facilities. There, Catholic rules inhibit — or prohibit — aid in dying, abortion, certain fertility treatments, and contraception. It’s not only women’s health issues. You…
Helen Mirren & Donald Sutherland Discuss “The Leisure Seeker”
Click Here to watch an interesting discussion of our February Right-to-Die film selection, The Leisure Seeker, by its two legendary stars, Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland. Join us for a free screening and discussion of this wonderful movie on Saturday,…
Why writing a will and planning your death is a lifetime gift to loved ones
Click here for full story
Wife fatally shoots terminally ill husband at Daytona Beach Hospital, Police Say
This incident is a tragic example of why better end-of-life options are needed in all U.S. states. Click here for full story
Netflix Short Documentary – Extremis
Currently playing on Nextflix, Extremis is a 24-minute documentary that deals with real dying patients in a hospital who are on life support and the hard decisions their families have to make about whether to disconnect life support and allow…
Ondi Timoner Talks About Her New Documentary “Last Flight Home”
Click here to watch the video
A Son’s Decision to Help His Father Die
A very interesting story about the decision to use VSED. Note that a Catholic chaplain refused to minister to the patient because he had chosen to die this way. Click here to read full article
How Hospice Became A For-Profit Hustle
An eye-opening examination of the profit-driven hospice industry: Click Here For more information on San Diego area hospices and which ones have complied with the state law on posting their medical aid in dying (MAiD) policy on their website, please…
World Federation of Right to Die Societies Interactive Map
WFRtDS worldquotes DEF Click on the pictures of people to read their RTD story.
Widow who paid £10,000 for terminally ill husband to die in Switzerland calls on UK to change its euthanasia laws
'The shame about it is that had the UK law been in place then those four years would have been so much more pleasant because he would have known that when he couldn't cope with it no longer he could…
Dr. Phil Show On the Right to Die Aired Oct 13, 2022
Among the guests were Philip Nitschke, founder of Exit International, Thaddeus Pope, expert on medical law and clinical ethics, and Dan Diaz who traveled to Oregon with his terminally wife, Brittany Maynard, for a peaceful death after her battle with…