The real Jack Kevorkian

I was working on last minute preparations before the opening of the Third International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (June 3) when I received a phone call asking me for comments concerning the death of Jack Kevorkian. All I could say is that I offer condolences to his family and friends and that I wanted the world to remember the real Jack Kevorkian.

During the past few years, friends and euthanasia advocates have been working overtime to create a new Jack. Books and plays have been written, and a movie staring Al Pacino was titled: "You Don’t Know Jack."

Many people have suggested that Jack was a reliever of suffering but an analysis by the Detroit Free Press found that of his 130 victims, at least 60% of them were depressed or living with disabilities, 17 of the victims did not have a condition that would lead to death, 13 had no signs of any pain and five had no signs of an illness.

Jack should have been stopped early in his campaign.

Janet Adkins, Kevorkian’s first victim, had Alzheimer disease. Jack accepted her as his first case after speaking to Janet’s husband. Unlike most of his victims, Jack spoke to Adkins psychiatrist, Dr. Murray Raskind who told Jack that Janet was not competent to make a decision to end her life. Jack gave her a lethal dose in his van.

Jack’s second lethal dose was administered to Marjorie Wantz (58), who had unexplained vaginal pain. Wantz had a long history of depression and other psychiatric problems. When Wantz responded in an ambivalent manner to the concept of suicide, Jack stated to her: "You sound like your in pain." When she replied that she was in pain, Jack went ahead with death by lethal dose.

An autopsy found that Wantz had no condition that could have caused the pain.

Some other victims include:

Rebecca Badger (39), a single mother of two who had a history of drug and alcohol abuse and psychiatric and emotional problems. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but an autopsy found no sign of the disease.

Lisa Lansing (42), a single medical malpractice attorney, complained for more than a decade of pain in her digestive system. Doctors in New Jersey could not find a medical problem. One physician said he refused to treat Lansing because she was interested mainly in obtaining prescription painkillers.

Judith Curren (42), a registered nurse who had not worked in 10 years, lived with a muscle disorder, depression and chronic fatigue syndrome. She complained of being physically abused by her husband, a psychiatrist. He claimed that he had fought to prevent her suicide. The couple was deeply in debt. Curren was also overweight and had been bedridden for up to two weeks at a time. There were no signs of illness.

Was Kevorkian different from the rest of the euthanasia lobby?

Hemlock Society founder, Derek Humphry, has been providing the contact information for GLADD a California mail order business that distributes plastic suicide bags that recently resulted in the death of Oregon citizen Nick Klonski (29) who lived with chronic depression for many years.

Several years ago the suicide activist, Rev George Exoo, was featured in a British film documentary titled: "Reverend Death." When Jon Ronson, the film maker, investigated how Exoo found so many depressed people to assist their suicides, he interviewed Humphry who admitted that when a person who appeared depressed contacts him for suicide information that he refers the person to Exoo.

Jack Kevorkian personified the euthanasia lobby. His radical comments and weird quirks made him appear different from the others but after examining the comments by other leaders in the euthanasia lobby, you must conclude that Jack represented them well. It is dangerous for society to rewrite the history of Jack.

Exoo, Exit, Derek Humphry and assisted suicide.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

With all the suicide cases related to the Final Exit Network in Australia, the Gladd Asphyxiation mail order (Exit Hoods) and the connection of Derek Humphry who is promoting these assisted suicide groups, it is important view the documentary by UK documentary producer Jon Ronson titled: Reverend Death that is about the suicide activist and assisted suicide promoter, Rev. George Exoo.

In 2010, George Exoo made plans to open a suicide clinic in Gastonia North Carolina, that was designed to be similar to the Dignitas suicide Clinic in Switzerland. Link to article.

The documentary, Reverend Death was shown on BBC. It can be found on U-Tube in 9 parts. It is a sad story but worth watching. 

If you are living with depression or if you are feeling suicidal go to the Your Life Counts Online Lifeline.

Part 1. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/23/0VR7mK5hZwU

Part 2. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/22/SoNowKhO2os

Part 3. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/21/o-c1RyplBig

Part 4. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/20/fhGbUKp1fzc

Part 5. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/19/vctGiwee2m4

Part 6. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/18/qePaKDg4gtk

Part 7. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/17/x460pGXVlw4

Part 8. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/16/4ed5_wAgZ3c

Part 9. http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/15/2iWYrExUceo

When watching Reverend Death, you will notice how the father of the assisted suicide lobby, Derek Humphry, refers people, for suicide assistance, to Exoo when they are not mentally stable. You will also notice at the NuTech meeting when Exoo announces that he was going to commit suicide that the participants, particularly Russel Ogden, the founder of the Farewell Foundation, are more concerned about the method rather than whether or not he should die. Finally you will hear how Exoo appears to have a sexual reaction when he is involved with assisting the suicide deaths of others.

It is important to understand that the concepts of choice and autonomy are really how the assisted suicide lobby sells assisted suicide to the public. The assisted suicide lobby is about a group of people who have become part of a death cult who view themselves as freeing the world of pain and suffering but in reality are working to remove the protections that exist in law for vulnerable people.

Link to an article about Susan Wilson's profitable assisted suicide trip to New Zealand.

Link to an article about the role in the euthanasia lobby in sending depressed and mentally unstable people to George Exoo for assisted suicide.

Exoo cancels plans to open assisted suicide clinic.

Last week we reported that euthanasia lobby activist, George Exoo, was planning to open a suicide clinic in North Carolina.

Exoo bought a small house in Gastonia North Carolina that he was planning to renovate and turn-into a suicide clinic.

Link to my blog article on the suicide clinic: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/09/george-exoo-planning-to-start-death.html

Recently Stuart Weisberg, a psychiatrist in Portland Oregon announced his intention to open a suicide clinic, similar to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. Weisberg was planning to offer extra services for his clients, including a $1200 fee for a three session with his dog (dog therapy). Link to my blog article about Weisberg: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2010/06/dignitas-founder-ludwig-minelli-is-now.html

The fascination with opening assisted suicide clinics appears to be linked to the reports that Ludwig Minelli, the founder of Dignitas the assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, has become phenomenally wealthy from his death mission.

Yesterday, an article written by Karen Garloch was published in the Charlotte Observer reported that Exoo didn't expect that he would be met with such outrage for opening an assisted suicide clinic and has shelved his plans to open an assisted suicide clinic.

Garlock reported:

Only days after going public, an internationally known right-to-die advocate says he's calling off plans to open a center for assisted suicide in Gastonia.

The Rev. George Exoo of West Virginia claims to have attended the suicide deaths of more than 100 people in multiple states and, most famously, in Ireland.

Exoo, 68, spent several months in a West Virginia jail in 2007 until a U.S. judge rejected a request from Irish authorities who wanted to extradite him and charge him in connection with the 2002 suicide of Rosemary Toole.

The experience didn't deter Exoo. He still believes mentally competent adults have the right to end their lives with assistance and support if pain from cancer or other disease becomes too great.

His plan for Gastonia grew out of his purchase four years ago of a $30,000 investment property. In a phone interview, he said renovations didn't go as planned, and he came up with the idea to use one of two houses on the lot as a "hospice facility for people who want to die intentionally."

Exoo thought North Carolina would be a good location because it has no law specifically making assisted suicide a criminal act. (N.C. law allows a person to choose a natural death, free from unwanted medical treatment or life-prolonging measures. But it also says that "should not be construed to authorize any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.")

Thirty-six states, including South Carolina, have laws specifically prohibiting assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Washington and Montana.

Exoo said he expected people would come from other states to take advantage of his service in Gastonia. Unlike Michigan's Jack Kevorkian, the widely publicized "Dr. Death," Exoo said he had hoped to operate quietly, like a shelter for battered women.

But last week, after newspaper and TV reports generated "nasty" website comments from the public, Exoo said he's abandoning his plans. "It's been a nightmare," he said.

Exoo's idea would have run into other roadblocks anyway.

Zoning might have been a problem because his property is in a residential area. Also, hospices require state approval in North Carolina. Gaston Hospice has been in operation since 1981, and the current state plan doesn't call for another.

Beyond that, hospice isn't the right word for what Exoo was planning. The hospice movement is based on providing pain relief and spiritual and emotional comfort at the end of life. But it does not endorse suicide.

When I talked to Exoo, he didn't seem to have thought much about these details. His focus was on people who might want his assistance.

Link to the article in the Charlotte Observer: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/09/21/1707013/assisted-suicide-plan-shelved.html

A couple of years ago Jon Ronson, a film biographer from the UK, produced a film about Rev Georger Exoo that was televised in the UK entitled Reverend Death. Ronson came to the project as a supporter of euthanasia. While filming the biography of Exoo he became aware of many concerns related to Exoo and the euthanasia lobby in general.

Link to my blog comment about the film - Rev Death: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/05/euthanasia-advocates-fail-to-distance.html

Link to the Reverend Death film on U-Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/7/0VR7mK5hZwU

George Exoo planning to start a death clinic in North Carolina

Euthanasia activist, George Exoo, has announced his intention to open a "right to die" hospice in Gastonia North Carolina.

A few years ago, Exoo was featured in a film documentary entitled "Reverend Death". The filmographer, Jon Ronson, chose to do a film documentary on Exoo because Ronson had supported euthanasia and assisted suicide and Exoo was known to have participated in the assisted suicide death of Rosemary Toole in Ireland.

At that time Exoo told the film crew:

"I think it's the reason I'm placed on this planet,"

Exoo claims to have directly assisted more than 100 people die by suicide, with another 20 people who he claims to have assisted by phone.

Exoo claims:

"I have a heart and a passion for those people, and so reaching out to them may be in the spirit of the Good Samaritan. That's why I do this,”

The North Carolina media stated:

At the facility in Gastonia – he’s looking at a home on West Circle -- Exoo says he plans to help people with terminal and debilitating illnesses end their lives.

Exoo stated:

"This is for people who live in jurisdictions and states like Georgia and Mississippi, Florida, and New York, where having assistance with an intentioned death is not legal,".

As much as Exoo wants to portray himself as a caring compassionate person, the fact is that there is significant profit to be made by establishing a death clinic. Dignitas, the Swiss group that is operated by Ludwig Minelli, has enabled Minelli to become a very wealthy man.

Exoo chose North Carolina because it is one of four states that doesn't have a specific statute criminalizing assisted suicide. But similar to Idaho, even though it may not have a specific statute concerning assisted suicide, it does recognize assisted suicide to be a crime based on common law and legal precedent.

Dr Gerald Aronoff told the media:

"Although there's not a statute criminalizing physician-assisted suicide, it still is not condoning physician-assisted suicide as the best alternative for dealing with these complex, chronic pain, end-of-life issues,"

The article concluded by stating:

In 2007, Exoo spent four months in a West Virginia jail in connection with the death of a woman he assisted in Dublin. A court later ruled he could not be forced to return to Ireland.

Previous articles about George Exoo uncovered some very unsavoury concerns related to Exoo's clients. By filming Exoo over a period of years Ronson learned that most of Exoo's clients were depressed or needed psychiatric help.

Exoo also played games with his suicide victims by moving the bodies in such a way to make it look like they were sleeping.
Link to the article about the Ronson film: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-made-it-look-like-they-died-in-their.html

The other interesting fact that was uncovered by the Ronson film about Exoo was that Ronson learned that Exoo's clients were referred to him by the "mainstream" euthanasia lobby.

Watch the film about George Exoo - Reverend Death on U-Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/slackmaster2000#p/u/7/0VR7mK5hZwU
Link to the article about Exoo's connections to the mainstream euthanasia lobby: http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/05/euthanasia-advocates-fail-to-distance.html

Link to the article: http://charlotte.news14.com:80/content/local_news/charlotte/630337/assisted-suicide-activist-plans-gastonia--right-to-die--hospice

Dignitas founder views assisted suicide as a universal human right

A BBC news article from April 2, 2009 interviewed Ludwid Minelli the founder of Dignitas clinic, the assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, who stated that he intends to clarify the law in Switzerland concerning assisting the suicide of a healty Canadian woman who intends to die with her husband.

Minelli is reported to have defended to the BBC news the assisted suicide deaths of psychiatric patients also.

Link to the original article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7977017.stm

Minelli is stated to the BBC news:

suicide was a "marvellous possibility" and he wants the assisted suicide law clarified for the healthy partners of dying people.

He said: "I have a totally different attitude to suicide. I say suicide is a marvellous marvellous possibility given to a human being."

Further to that he reported of a test case that he intents to bring before the Swiss courts, he stated:

"Suicide is a very good possibility to escape a situation which you can't alter."

"It is not a condition to have a terminal illness. Terminal illness is a British obsession.

"We are not a clinic. As a human rights lawyer I am opposed to the idea of paternalism. We do not make decisions for other people."

"There is a couple living in Canada, the husband is ill, his partner is not ill but she told us here in my living room that 'if my husband goes, I would go at the same time with him'.

"We will now probably go to the courts in order to clear this question."

The Dignitas Clinic has spurned much controversy over the past several years in the advocacy of suicide and there encouragement of suicide tourists who travel to the Dignitas Clinic for death.

The article states that:

Dignitas is known in Britain for having helped more than 100 people to kill themselves.

The majority were terminally ill, but there have been more controversial cases such as psychiatric patients and couples, even when one was less ill than the other.

A recent controversy has erupted concerning the charge by a former Dignitas employee Soraya Wernli. Wernli has suggested that Minelli has not only been unscrupulous about who he assists suicides, but also for his elaborate fees and how he will assist suicides.

Previous blog entry about the Soraya Wernli's claims about Ludwig Minelli and the Dignitas Clinic:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2009/02/cashing-in-on-despair.html

The fact is that Minelli appears to be more extreme than the rest of the euthanasia lobby because he is unwilling to achieve the goals of the euthanasia lobby by incremental steps.

Consider the recent charges against four members of the final exit network and the recent interview with one of their leaders, it is clear that the Final Exit Network is not concerned whether people who they assist to commit suicide are not depressed or mentally competent. Link to a past blog commentary:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2009/03/final-exit-network-proves-that-they-are.html

When one considers that Ted Goodwin the past president of the Final Exit Network allegedly admitted that they do not only hold the hand of the suicide victim, but they actually hold down the hands of the suicide victim to prevent the victim from removing the turkey bag that is filled with helium.

Link to blog comment on the Final Exit Network:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2009/03/ted-goodwin-defends-deaths-of-people.html

It is a known fact that people will often remove the "Exit Bag" during the deathing process, because of the 'will to live' and the natural fear that is associated with dying from suffocation.

Further to that, consider the antics of Philip Nitschke, Australia's Dr Death. Nitschke sells suicide devices and provides suicide manuals to people over the internet. He also promotes suicide tourists travelling to Mexico to purchase lethal drugs that are used by veterinarians for the euthanasia of large animals.

Link to a recent blog commentary about Philip Nitschke:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2009/03/australias-dr-death-philip-nitschke-is.html

In case you take seriously the attempts to distance themselves from the rest of the euthanasia lobby by the UK euthanasia lobby group - Dying in Dignity, or Compassion & Choices in the United States, just remember that:
1. all of these groups are members of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies,
2. Ted Goodwin is the Vice-President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies,
3. Philip Nitschke was a respected speaker at the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference in Toronto - September 2006 where he had a display table that he used to demonstrate the effectiveness of his suicide devices.
4. Derek Humphrey is the founder of the Final Exit Network and the former Hemlock Society. The Hemlock Society formed into Compassion & Choices.
5. The only reason Dying in Dignity in the UK and Compassion & Choices in the United States are distancing themselves from Nitschke, Minelli and the Final Exit Network is that their strategy is based on an incremental approach to achieving the same radical ends, but they recognize that our culture is not ready yet.

Finally, last year when a film biography of the Rev George Exoo was released in the UK that proved that Exoo was assisting the suicides of people with mental illness and clinically depressed, the question of where Exoo found his victims directly connected him to the mainstream of the euthanasia lobby.

Link to the blog comments about Exoo:
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/05/euthanasia-advocates-fail-to-distance.html

Jon Ronson, the filmographer, interviewed Derek Humphrey, the long-time leader of the mainstream euthanasia lobby in the United States. Humphrey admitted that when he received a call from a persistent person, who appeared depressed or mentally incompetent, that he would refer them to Exoo.

I still wonder why Exoo was not arrested and Humphrey investigated.

Remember, the Euthanasia lobby is not about providing assisted suicide to terminally ill people who are suffering uncontrollable pain. The strategy of the euthanasia lobby is to promote limits that appear reasonable by the general public in order to build a further acceptance of a universal right to die for everyone.

A nirvana of peaceful pills, exit bags and death purveyors.

God help us all.

Kwantlan University College ordered Russel Ogden to stop euthanasia research

Russel Ogden is a criminologist at Kwantlan University College in British Columbia Canada, who has been researching suicide and euthanasia methods.

The National Post reported:

"Our due diligence included obtaining two opinions from one of Canada's foremost criminal lawyers about the legal implications," read a statement issued by the school's director of marketing and communications, Peter Chevrier.

"Based on our due diligence, including the lawyer's opinions, we concluded that there were real and unacceptable legal risks associated with the proposed research."

Kwantlen's decision has upset and dumbfounded some Canadian academics and their representatives. Demanding that Mr. Ogden terminate his research, already approved and underway, "seems like a gross violation of academic freedom," says James Turk, executive director of the Ottawa-based Canadian Association of University Teachers, which represents 65,000 instructors.

Apparently, he adds, "Kwantlen obtained a legal opinion that because euthanasia is illegal in Canada, what Mr. Ogden is doing [witnessing suicides] could be illegal. But we don't think that it follows, necessarily. [Post-secondary] researchers examine illegal acts all the time."

Ogden has always claimed to be a researcher and not a euthanasia activist.

In September 2006, I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies bi-annual convention in Toronto with two under-cover supporters. Ogden was an active participant.

One of the under-cover attendees of the conference sat beside Ogden at the banquet. Ogden explained to this person his involvement with his research. The under-cover attendee had a very difficult time digesting food as Russel explained his experiences.

Recently, the video that was produced by Jon Ronson on the death activitist George Exoo, showed how Ogden was a central part of the underground death culture as he attended the meetings and asked Exoo questions about his intention to commit suicide if he was to be extradited to Ireland in connection with his death actitivities.

Ogden is not a dispassionate researcher but rather a euthanasia activist.

In my opinion, in the past, when Ogden has made presentations to Canadian parliamentary committees, those presentations need to be viewed as Ogden acting as a lobbyist rather than a researcher.

Kwantlan University College was right to be concerned about his activities.

The National Post article can be found at: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=630214

Alleged suicide job shocks campaigners

A New Zealand news agency is suggesting that leaders on both sides of the euthanasia debate are surprised that an American woman using the name Susan Wilson was paid $12,000to fly to New Zealand and assist the death of a woman suffering from depression. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1786504

As the long-time leader of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition in Canada and now the International chair, I am neither surprised or shocked by this news.

In September 2006, I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies bi-annual conference in Toronto. During the proceedings of that conference, it was apparent that the end-goal for the euthanasia lobby was the acceptance of the "last-will-pill" or the peaceful pill.

Dr. Rob Jonquiere, the moderate leader of the Right to Die movement in the Netherlands explained that by taking the law in their own hands that activists were making it more difficult for politicians to accept the final goal - the acceptance of the "last-will-pill". When you analyze the concept of a last-will-pill you must agree that there is no way to protect people who are depressed or mentally incompetent from killing themselves with this pill.

We already know that the Supreme Court in the Netherlands approved euthanasia for people who are experiencing chronic depression or chronic mental suffering.

Dr. Philip Nitschke, who is the maverick Australian leader of Exit International promoted the peaceful pill that allegedly could be available to anyone at anytime.

Several years ago Wesley Smith reported comments by Nitschke in an article titled "Noxious Nitschke" stating that the "peaceful pill" could be available to troubled teens. http://www.nationalreview.com/smithw/smith200411150826.asp

The question for the euthanasia lobby is not that they oppose euthanasia or assisted suicide for people who suffer depression, the question is how will the public knowledge of their support for these acts affect their campaign to legalize euthanasia or assisted suicide everywhere?

Finally, if there is nothing wrong with assisted suicide then why should assisting a suicide be done for free. Susan Wilson had to fly to New Zealand and accept the chance that she might be arrested for her actions.

Maybe the real shock is that someone would pay her $12,000 and the other members of the euthanasia lobby feel that they are being under paid.

Euthanasia Advocates fail to distance themselves from Exoo.

On Monday, May 12, 2008 my blog covered the issue of George Exoo and the recent film that has been made about him by film maker Jon Ronson.
http://alexschadenberg.blogspot.com/2008/05/i-made-it-look-like-they-died-in-their.html

Ronson explained that he got the idea of making a film about Exoo after the death of Rosemary Toole. The Ronson exposeé proves that Exoo will assist the suicide of people who are depressed, mentally ill and not terminally ill.

Today Dr. Libby Wilson responded to the Exoo debacle in the guardian newspaper. Wilson explains that “it is by unfortunate associations that the member societies of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies are lumped together with loose cannons such as Rev George Exoo.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk:80/society/2008/may/15/mentalhealth.health

The reality is that the Rev George Exoo finds his victims through the member societies of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.

In September 2006, I attended the World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference in Toronto. One of the speakers was Dr. Philip Nitschke. Nitschke was there to promote the idea of the “peaceful” pill that could be used by anyone when they are “tired of living”.

Maybe Nitschke is just another loose cannon but the member societies of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies didn’t distance themselves from his comments.

A volunteer with the Compassion & Choices client support program explained that she “believes the cost for medical technology is often a waste of money.” She said “She became a volunteer because she wants to hasten her own death.”

This woman was a mainstream volunteer for Compassion & Choices.

Exoo is more extreme than the other Right to Die lobby, but he is only more extreme by degree, not because of his actions.

The Right to Die lobby is a death cult.

The only really difference between the mainstream lobby and the work of George Exoo is the strategy they have set to achieve their agenda.

'I made it look like they died in their sleep'

Jon Ronson is a film producer who supported assisted suicide and decided to make a film about assisted suicide campaigner George Exoo.

Ronson contacted Exoo to make a film about him, after it became known that Exoo had assisted the suicide of Rosemary Toole in January 2002 in Ireland. The Toole suicide created significant support for assisted suicide in Ireland.

The guardian published a story today about the experience Ronson had with interviewing and getting to know Exoo and his suicide "ministry" while producing the film about him.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/12/mentalhealth.health?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

This may be the most interesting story about the "inside" of the underground death culture that I have read. Exoo claims to have been directly involved in 102 suicide deaths. What is astounding is that most of his "clients" were not terminally ill but just depressed and in need of psychiatric help.

The prime example of an Exoo client is Pam Acre, a 59 year-old woman living on the outskirts of Baltimore.

Acre describes her disease as difficult because all the tests come back negative.

Exoo is not concerned about the mental condition of Acre, he is only interested in describing each method of suicide and determining which method Acre prefers.

Ronson was also interesting in finding out how Exoo met his clients.

Ronson interviewed Derek Humphry, the founder of the Hemlock society that has now morphed into the Compassion and Choices group in the U.S.

"Humphry said that the mainstream right-to-die groups will tell them (Exoo clients), "'We can't help you. It's not within our parameters because you aren't terminally ill.' But they pursue you. They call and call. And eventually someone will say, 'George Exoo will probably help you.' And that gets them off the phone and on to George."

What that means is that George Exoo is busy aiding, abeting and counseling suicide for people who are not terminally ill, and who simply need help for their depression and the mainstream "right to die" lobby is complicit by sending him their troubled callers.

The experience that Ronson has with George Exoo proves that when people learn about the right to die - suicide cult - they will change their mind about assisted suicide, like Ronson did.

The other inference that can be drawn from Ronson is that the only reason the mainstream right to die lobby won't "assist" people who are not terminal and only depressed because their goal is to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide and being associated with killing mentally ill and depressed people won't advance their goals.