A Not So New Kind of Suicide Hotline

Not to prevent suicide, but to help you learn how to do the deed: A new how-to-commit-suicide hot line, er “counseling” service brought to you from the zealots at Compassion and Choices (formerly Hemlock Society). Typically in efforts such as this, the suicide promoters always try to throw in some “clergy” to make it seem more acceptable, claim that their services will be limited to the terminally ill, and offer provide information about pain control, etc. But that is all veneer. What this effort—and others like it—are really about is teaching people how to kill themselves and giving them moral permission to do it.

Besides, if this 1800-Commit Suicide type of group can so counsel the terminally ill (who aren’t always accurately diagnosed), why can’t some other pro suicide types open a hot line for the disabled or mentally ill? And indeed, such assisted suicides are already being carried out.

This stunt was entirely predictable. When pro assisted suicide types lose a political battle, as they did this year in California, they often throw the equivalent of a tantrum.

This isn’t anything new, of course. The Hemlock Society always engaged in such activities. So does the Final Exit Network. But count on the media to be taken in every time and never ask the hard questions.