John Marshall, writing in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, reviews ‘The Last Goodnights: Assisting My Parents with their Suicides,’ by John West.

Trial attorney West gives a “harrowing and hearbreaking” account of his experiences helping his parents commit suicide, Marshall says. West’s father was Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West, former chair of the psychiatry department at UCLA, and his mother, Kathryn “K” West, was a clinical psychologist at a Veterans Affairs hospital.

The book, Marshall says, “provides an eloquent testament to the need for ‘death with dignity’ statutes like the one passed in Washington in 2008 and its pioneering counterpart in Oregon.”

An excerpt:

“The Last Goodnights” is a gripping account of how one person dealt with one of the most daunting personal crises imaginable. West’s courage in sharing his experiences with others should be saluted.

See also:

• Man reveals he assisted parents’ suicides ten years ago — Good Morning America/ABC News
• Parents ask son to help their suicide, ‘I wasn’t going to argue’ — Good Morning America/ABC News

Judges hint at leniency for her husband

From the [UK] Guardian:

A British woman with multiple sclerosis has failed in her attempt to get the courts to clarify the assisted suicide law. Debbie Purdy had wanted an assurance that her husband, Cuban violinist Omar Puente, would not face prosecution if he accompanied her to an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland.

Advocates said the ruling yesterday gave the clearest indication yet that those who help a relative commit suicide will not face criminal sanctions in the UK.

Prosecutors recently decided not to pursue charges against the family of Daniel James, a 23-year-old who committed suicide at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland after a disabling rugby accident.

From the [UK] Times:

The parents of a young UK rugby star who took their son to a suicide clinic in Switzerland will not face charges.

Authorities said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Mark and Julie James under the Suicide Act of 1961, but that a prosecution would not be in the public interest.

Daniel James, their son, had been left paralyzed from the chest down after his spine was dislocated in a training session in 2007. He had repeatedly said that he wanted to die rather than live a “second-class existence.”

Meanwhile, a British TV channel was scheduled to air a controversial documentary in which a man with a terminal illness is shown committing assisted suicide in a Swiss clinic.

Related stories:

TV channel to broadcast assisted suicide — CNN

Mary Ewert: Why I want the world to see my husband die — [UK] Independent

Why Daniel James’ death in a Swiss clinic is not a case for the prosecution — [UK] Times

Wife defends suicide documentary — BBC

Earlier posts here.

Liz Carr, writing on the [UK] Guardian’s website, says media portrayals of people with disabilities are skewed toward wannabe celebrities, athletes and people who want to die by way of assisted suicide. “This unapologetic bias only serves to misrepresent millions of disabled peoples’ lives,” she says. An excerpt:

In our society, the prevailing view of illness and disability is that they’re a tragedy and thus the decision to die is often seen as entirely rational, inevitable and even brave. Rarely is this status quo challenged but instead the majority of press reports reinforce it. We are forever hearing about the campaign to assist people to die with dignity, for example, but what about the equally compelling campaign to assist people to live with dignity? Balanced media coverage of this issue is not just essential, it’s a matter of life and death.

Earlier story on Carr here. She’s called an “outspoken disabled comic.” Interview and video of her comedy act is here.

From the BBC News Magazine:

Noel Martin, a British construction worker who was paralyzed from the neck down after being attacked by neo-Nazis near Berlin 12 years ago, says he is planning a trip to Switzerland to commit suicide. Broadcaster Liz Carr interviews Martin for a BBC report (included here), then follows up with an open letter urging him to reconsider. Carr herself has a disability and uses a wheelchair.

An excerpt:

Worn down, feeling like a burden and with their needs unmet, it’s perhaps understandable why people like yourself might choose death. But surely before we even consider assisting people to die, we need to assist them to live.

One of the main problems I have with assisted suicide stories like yours, Noel, is that the media perpetuates the idea that to be disabled or ill must be the greatest tragedy of all. Disability inevitability equals no quality of life.

…I just think it’s too easy for a society to promote assisted suicide as a right rather than work to overcome the barriers to supporting older, ill and disabled people to live fulfilled and valuable lives. Forget the right to die, isn’t it more urgent that we campaign for the right not to be killed?

(Liz Carr and Noel Martin, BBC photo)

From AP/Seattle Times:

Washington voters approved a ballot measure Tuesday that allows a terminally ill person the option of medically assisted suicide. Under Initiative 1000, people could obtain lethal medication by prescription and administer it to themselves.

Patterned after Oregon’s “Death with Dignity” law, the measure makes Washington the second state in the nation with a law permitting assisted suicide.

The measure’s supporters, led by former Democratic Governor Booth Gardner, portrayed it as a compassionate way to allow people with terminal illnesses to end their suffering. Gardner has Parkinson’s disease. Opponents expressed concerns that the measure could exploit depressed or vulnerable people, and devalue the lives of people with disabilities.

From the [UK] Times:

Debbie Purdy, a UK woman with multiple sclerosis, has lost her landmark legal effort to gain permission for her husband to assist her in committing suicide. Ms. Purdy appealed to Parliament and said she would contest the High Court’s decision.

Ms. Purdy said she was seeking Parliamentary review of a law that makes assisting a suicide an offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. She wants to know whether her husband, Omar Puente, will be prosecuted if he helps her travel abroad to a country where assisted suicide is legal.

She is gradually losing strength in her upper body, and has said she plans to travel to Switzerland to commit suicide when her disease worsens. She is a member of Dignitas, a Swiss organization that operates euthanasia clinics.

See earlier post here.

See also, in the New York Times:

On Washington state’s ballot: Doctor-assisted suicide

Polls have shown that more Washington voters support the initiative than oppose it, but, like the Oregon measure, it is controversial and closely contested. Religious groups, along with some advocates for the disabled and some doctors, aggressively oppose it, raising questions about ethics and the way the Oregon law has been carried out.