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Top: Society: Issues: End-of-Life: Right_to_Die: People
This category contains information about individuals who advocate for the right to die or who have hastened the death of another.
Reginald Crew, a British man who suffered from motor neuron disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or "Lou Gehrig's disease"), hastened his death in Switzerland with the help of Dignitas, a right to die organization.
In May 2002, Crick hastened her death in her Queensland, Australia home with 21 relatives, friends, and right to die activists present. Though many believed she was dying of bowel cancer, a post-mortem examination found no visual evidence of the disease. The 69-year old chronicled the last four months of her life in an online diary in order to raise public awareness and, ultimately, change Australia's laws about assisted dying.
In 1992, Hofsess founded The Right to Die Society of Canada and wrote "Requiem: Death and Dying in Canada."
Dr. Jack Kevorkian assisted at least 130 deaths before being convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 10 - 25 years in prison in 1999. Before 1999, the retired pathologist had been tried on assisted suicide charges four times, resulting in three acquittals and one mistrial.
Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer, ended the life of his 12-year daughter, Tracy, in 1993. Tracy had severe cerebral palsy and her father maintains that he acted only to end her suffering.Latimer was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 10 years to life in prison. More than 60,000 Canadians have petitioned their government for a reduction of his sentence or a complete pardon.
Evelyn Martens, of British Columbia (Canada), has been charged with helping two terminally ill women, Monique Charest and Leyanne Burchell, hasten their deaths. A preliminary hearing in the case was held in November 2002; the next set of hearings are scheduled for February and March of 2003. The Court has imposed a publication ban on the proceedings.
Lesley Martin described her efforts to hasten her terminally ill mother's death in "To Die Like a Dog." She has been charged with attempted murder.
Dr. Philip Nitschke assisted the deaths of four people in 1996 under the now-overturned Northern Territory voluntary euthanasia law. He is founder and director of EXIT (Australia) and runs workshops around the country advising terminally ill individuals about hastened dying.
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