Four members of the Georgia-based Final Exit Network are being charged with assisted suicide after a sting operation allegedly uncovered the group's involvement in the asphyxiation death of a man who had been recovering from cancer. John Celmer, 58, was cancer-free, but "concerned about his public appearance" before his death last June.
Thomas “Ted” Goodwin, 63, of Kennesaw and Florida; Claire Blehr, 76, of
Atlanta; Dr. Lawrence Egbert, 81, and Alec Sheridan, 60, both of
Maryland, allegedly assisted in Celmer's suicide by helium inhalation.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent who claimed to want an assisted suicide was key to the arrest of the four Final Exit Network members, said authorities. The agent, posing as a pancreatic cancer patient, was told that Goodwin and Behr would observe and assist in his death. An "exit bag" was to be placed over the agent's head, forcing him to inhale helium from two tanks. Goodwin demonstrated to the agent how he would hold his hands down to prevent him from removing the bag over his head.
The Final Exit Network has drawn the ire both of assisted suicide advocates and disability advocacy groups that oppose assisted suicide. Advocates for the right to die say that, by extending assisted suicide services to those who aren't terminally ill, FEN is undermining national efforts to make assisted suicide legal. On the other side of the aisle, the advocacy organization Not Dead Yet says FEN's efforts represent "a deadly double standard for those with severe disabilities."
Stephen Drake of Not Dead Yet told the Associated Press that he wonders
why the Final Exit Network's activities are not classified as murder."It's
like approaching somebody who is on the ledge of a building and giving
them a shove instead of pulling them back," he said.
In at least one case, Final Exit Network allegedly assisted in the suicide of a woman who was not physically ill, but who had struggled with depression for years.
What do you think? Should assisted suicide be available to everyone who want it, to terminally ill patients only, or to no one at all?
Related: Rugby Player's Assisted Suicide Sparks Investigation, Controversy
Photo by Jastacey 128
