Choice

Apr 22

1

Seeking justice in Minnesota

By Lamar Hankins | Choice, Free speech, Suffering and Death | One Comment

On April 16, 2018, the Final Exit Network (FEN) filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the State of Minnesota. The suit asks the court to declare that Minnesota’s law prohibiting speaking to a person about how to hasten her own death is a violation of the free speech clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution. The suit seeks, also, to void FEN’s conviction under the statute, and to bar the State of Minnesota from again initiating a prosecution of FEN, and its personnel, under the statute based solely on the utterance of “speech” that “enables” a suicide.

Jan 28

0

21 MAJOR END-OF-LIFE DECISIONS

By John Abraham, D.Div., Thanatologist | Choice | 3 Comments

This week’s post is a checklist of 21 major end-of-life decisions by John Abraham, author of “How To Get The Death You Want — A Practical and Moral Guide” (2017, Upper Access Press) and on Amazon

Contact: JohnWithFEN@earthlink.net
Web site: www.DeathAndDyingHelp.com

Jan 08

0

Whose decision is it?

By Lamar Hankins | Choice | 4 Comments

Whenever I read the arguments of opponents of Medical Aid In Dying (MAID), one that constantly crops up is a religious appeal to how precious life is. For example, “Every day is a gift from God, and you can’t ever let that go.” That is a faith statement. I may agree with it or I may not. It may rise out of the writer’s religious faith, but that doesn’t mean it applies to mine. And religious faith should never be a basis for making public policy. Otherwise, we will have one person’s religion controlling all others – something our founders absolutely opposed.

Sep 17

2

A response to disability rights activists’ opposition to the right to die, PART 1

By Lamar Hankins | Choice, Death With Dignity Act, Disability, Disability Rights, Not Dead Yet | No Comments

Five years ago in Massachusetts, the right to autonomy in one’s body went down to defeat in a vote related to irrational fear by some disability rights advocates working through the activist group Not Dead Yet. Their position was that they would be compelled or coerced into ending their own lives if the initiative passed.

Sep 03

0

I’ll See Myself Out, Thank You: Notes on the Right to Die

By Lamar Hankins | Choice, Death With Dignity Act, Palliative Care, Rational Death | One Comment

Two years ago, a book of thirty essays supporting the right to assisted death edited by Colin Brewer and Michael Irwin, was published by Skyscraper Publications, Ltd. Most of the essays make arguments familiar to Americans involved in the right-to-die movement, but often with a European (and British) take that makes them fresh. Others tell first-person stories that are as riveting as any heard in the US.