A San Francisco man named John West has alerted the media—in a book—that he helped his parents commit suicide. From the story: For attorney and author John West, his parents were lifelong sources of comfort, wisdom and pride. But West has been keeping a 10-year-old secret about his parents from everyone, including his two sisters, which he is revealing for the first time in a memoir called “The Last Goodnights.” West helped his terminally ill parents commit suicide, a crime in the state of California, where the deaths took place. In revealing his actions, West acknowledges he could face prosecution
Ten years later? Unlikely. In fact, the statute of limitations has passed.
And here’s some compassion:
Of course he was interviewed on Good Morning America! Most politically correct outlaws are feted by the biggest of big time media.Though his parents had been active for most of West’s life, their health deteriorated dramatically in the 1990s.
In 1998, Jolly West was diagnosed with cancer and given six months to live. Kathryn West, meanwhile, learned she had Alzheimer’s disease.
Jolly West was the first to approach his son about “the plan” — he wanted to end his life.
John West agreed to assemble a deadly cocktail of pills that he helped his father, who was 74, take on the evening of Jan. 2, 1999. By morning, Jolly West was dead, his death attributed by everyone except John West to cancer.Months later, his mother, who was 75, asked him to help carry out a plan of her own. With a heavy heart, he agreed, telling no one of his role in his parents’ deaths, not even his two sisters. John West said that his mother was depressed at the time and on anti-depressant medication but that she was mentally capable of making the decision. “As she put it to me, ‘I have a right to be depressed. I just lost my husband of 50-some years. I’m...my mind is turning into mush. What’s not to be depressed about?’” John West said.
Perhaps West can be charged with practicing medicine without a license.
