Today, Nov. 7, 2011, the Georgia Supreme Court will hear arguments on the challenge to Georgia’s assisted suicide law filed by members of the Final Exit Network. The group claims that the law does not actually prohibit assisted suicide but does violate the First Amendment right to free speech.
Three disability rights groups from Georgia will be attending the hearing today, and handing out informational flyers on the activities of the Final Exit Network and why the group needs to be stopped.
The double-sided one page flyer is reproduced below. NDY’s press release announcing the presence of disability rights activists at the court today can be found at:
The informational flyer is below:
DISABILITY RIGHTS GROUPS URGE
GEORGIA SUPREME COURT TO
UPHOLD PROSECUTION OF FINAL EXIT NETWORK
EQUAL RIGHTS INCLUDES
EQUAL SUICIDE PREVENTION
Disability rights activists from:
Not Dead Yet of Georgia
Georgia ADAPT and
Disabled Queers in Action
are attending oral argument in the Georgia Supreme Court
on Monday, November 7 at 10:00 a.m.
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Disability activists are urging the state Supreme Court to uphold the prosecution of members of Final Exit Network.
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Many people struggle every day to get the basic essentials to live and participate in the community. Attitudes based on prejudice are thrown in people’s way, so people sometimes feel despair over the never ending struggle for access and acceptance.
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When young, healthy, nondisabled people say they want to commit suicide, society says their suicide would be a tragedy and tries to prevent it.
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But Final Exit Network (FEN) members respond to old, ill and disabled people who want to commit suicide by agreeing and assisting them to do it.
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That’s discrimination against people who are old, ill or disabled.
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An undercover GBI agent, who posed as an FEN client wanting to commit suicide, said he was informed by one of the defendants that part of their “help” would involve holding his hands down to make sure he didn’t “inadvertently” rip off the helium-filled bag that would cause his death. There would be no chance to change his mind at the last minute.
Equal rights includes equal suicide prevention!
PAGE 2
Final Exit Network:
Myths vs. Realities
MYTH:The Final Exit Network (FEN) only “assists” the suicides of people who are terminally ill.
REALITY:John Celmer, whose suspicious death sparked an investigation into FEN, was reported to be cancer-free in the coroner’s report. Under the “Who we serve” section of its website, FEN states that it will serve persons “who are suffering from intolerable medical circumstances and want to end their lives. Those conditions include Cancer, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Emphysema, Congestive Heart Failure, Stroke, AIDS, and many other lesser-known but serious ailments.” (From FEN website)
REALITY:John Celmer, whose suspicious death sparked an investigation into FEN, was reported to be cancer-free in the coroner’s report. Under the “Who we serve” section of its website, FEN states that it will serve persons “who are suffering from intolerable medical circumstances and want to end their lives. Those conditions include Cancer, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Emphysema, Congestive Heart Failure, Stroke, AIDS, and many other lesser-known but serious ailments.” (From FEN website)
MYTH:FEN “Exit Guides” only provide “counseling,” not “assistance.”
REALITY:Legal authorities charge that part of the group’s assistance entails cleaning up the site of an allege suicide to make it look like a natural death. Moreover, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) claims that, during the sting operation it used with FEN, the agent posing as a cancer victim was told that the “exit guide” would hold his hands down after the helium-filled bag went over his head. FEN claims that this is to prevent flailing movements from accidentally dislodging the bag, but it would also prevent the removal of the bag by a person who had changed his or her mind.
REALITY:Legal authorities charge that part of the group’s assistance entails cleaning up the site of an allege suicide to make it look like a natural death. Moreover, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) claims that, during the sting operation it used with FEN, the agent posing as a cancer victim was told that the “exit guide” would hold his hands down after the helium-filled bag went over his head. FEN claims that this is to prevent flailing movements from accidentally dislodging the bag, but it would also prevent the removal of the bag by a person who had changed his or her mind.
MYTH:Those that FEN “helps” are carefully screened.
REALITY:The GBI agent in the sting operation that sparked the multi-state investigation posed as a cancer patient. He says that FEN never asked for his medical records. John Celmer, of Georgia, was cancer-free at death.
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