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The Hemlock Society USA
Its past and its present 
n 2009 in America, there existsthree independentHemlock Society groups - Hemlock Foundation of Florida Inc., Hemlock of Illinois and the HemlockSociety of San Diego.
I
All are former chapters of the Hemlock Society USAwhich ceased to exist in 2003 after a merger with anorganization now called Compassion and Choices. WithHemlock’s controversial disappearance, some amongst itsold leadership formed in 2004 the Final Exit Network tocontinue its particular brand of work.The original Hemlock was founded in l980 by DerekHumphry in his garage in Santa Monica, California, when hereceived a huge response to his memoir 
Jean’s Way 
, thestory of helping his terminally ill wife take her own life in1975. Hemlock was the first such organization in America;
 
previous groups had campaigned only for the greater use of the Living Will.The name ‘Hemlock’ was selected in the light of thesuicide of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates who hadto choose between sentences of death or exile; after debatewith colleague, and unable to bear the loneliness of exile,hechose suicide by the hemlock plant. It wasSocrates’scareful consideration of his choices whichinspired the American organization.Hemlock’s two-fold mission was to provide informationto dying persons who were currently consideringhasteningtheir ends, and to pass legislation permitting physician-assisted suicide with accompanying guidelines to preventabuse.Hemlock’s national membership grew to 40,000 witheighty chapters. It supported legislative efforts inCalifornia, Washington, Michigan, and Maine withoutsuccess until Oregon’s
Death With Dignity Act 
was passed inl994.In l991 Derek Humphry wrote the book
Final Exit 
:
The Practialitiesof Self-deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying.
Dealing extensively and humanely with the familial,psychological and legal problems of hastened death, itbecame the gold standard handbook for the terminally andhopelessly ill, competent adult. At first it could not find acommercial publisher so Hemlock self-published it inhardback. Within months it had shot to the top of the
New 
 
York Times 
bestseller list and remained there for 18 weeks.It was one of the few self-published books ever to hit thebestseller list, earning Hemlock over one million dollars net.Random House took over the paperback
Final Exit 
in1992 and it has remained in print ever since, now in its thirdedition. It has been translated into 12 languages, sellingclose to two million copies worldwide.The Hemlock chapters in Florida, Illinois and San Diegocontinue their missions of helping people understand whatis involved in accelerating one’s end, and pushing for legislation. These chapters cooperate with – but are not anofficial part of – the national Final Exit Network whichprovides informational guidance to people who wish to endtheir suffering.Online References: Farewell to Hemlock: Killed by its name.www.assistedsuicide.orgBooks:
Dying Right: The Death With Dignity Movement 
. DanielHillyard and John Dombrink. Routledge. 2001.
A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in America 
. IanDowbiggin. OUP. 2003
The Enigma of Suicide 
. George Howe Colt. Summit Books.1991.
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FinalExit

Fuller details on the life and death of the Hemlock Society USA (1980-2003) are on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemlock_...

reply10 / 23 / 2009
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