This is an article from Exit International’s news letter, a very pro euthanasia group from Down Under. It describes the making of the so-called “peaceful pill” suicide concoction.
For those who don’t know: Philip Nitschke was in charge of this little project. He was paid thousands of dollars by the Hemlock Society (now merged into the new organization Compassion and Choices) to research on and develop the suicide concoction.
Nitschke has advocated making the peaceful pill available to troubled teens and in supermarkets. Some assisted suicide promoters will claim that Nitschke is on the fringe. Baloney. He is a big star in the international euthanasia movement, and indeed, was a major presenter at the recent bi-annual Convention of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies in Toronto.
There are two major strains of assisted suicide advocacy, although they often merge and blend. There are the ultra sophisticated types (Barbara Coombs Lee, head of Compassion and Choices), who speak in soothing tones of compassion and promote a “medical model” in which doctors would be allowed to assist suicides or euthanize patients, and pretend it will be limited to the already dying. Then there are those interested in hyper control (Derek Humphry, Nitchke), who are fascinated by suicide machines and concoctions, and more candidly espouse a more widely accessible “death with dignity.” But remember, these apparently different approaches are just the right and left arms of the same movement.
As a side note: I was once approached by a very nice lady who was in the Hemlock Society. She knew of my work and asked, “Mr. Smith, how do you envision your death?”
I responded: “I don’t know ma’am. I’m still trying to envision my life.”
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