OUTLOOK
A GOOD DEATH
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Members of the Michigan Hemlock Society don't fear death — only the way they might die.
Assistant Editor
M
arjorie Norman
cared for her ailing
parents when she
was young, for an uncle who
loved plaid pants when she
was in her 40s, for her hus-
band after he suffered a series
of debilitating heart attacks.
She doesn't want anyone
to look after her.
Ms. Norman hates the
thought of one day being a
burden on her children.
That's why she's a member
of the Hemlock Society, a
national organization that
advocates suicide for the
terminally ill.
Ms. Norman, of Southfield,
is co-founder with Janet
Good of the Michigan
chapter of the Hemlock
Society. The group's first
meeting, held last April, at-
tracted some 20 men and
women of various ages and
financial situations. Many of
them, like Ms. Norman, are
Jewish.
Taking its name from the
root plant used in ancient
Greece and Rome for
"rational suicide," the
Hemlock Society was formed
in 1980 in Los Angeles. This
month, it celebrated its 10th
anniversary.
More than 31,000 mem-
bers belong to the nonprofit
Photo by Mars ha Su ndqu ist
Marjorie Norman with a
copy of a Hemlock
publication: "In our
society we talk a great
deal about prolonging
life, but we've done
nothing for the elderly."
organization, which is based
in Eugene, Ore. and has 46
chapters. The group seeks
legislation that would allow
a doctor to assist a terminal
ly ill patient in ending his
life.
As the aging population
increases, more people are
showing support for suicide
and induced death including
politicians, physicians and
the public:
• In January 1990, a New
York judge ruled that the
family of Jean Elbaum was
no longer obligated to
pay a nursing home that
provided the comatose
woman with life-sustaining
care.
• The New England Jour-
nal of Medicine in 1989
published an editorial say-
ing that euthanasia "should
indeed be legalized."
• Physician-assisted
suicide is permissible in the
Netherlands, where the
Royal Dutch Pharmacists
Association gives doctors a
pamphlet describing the best
way to carry out the act. Eu-
thanasia (literally, "good
death") accounts for about
one in every 15 deaths in
Holland.
• The American Medical
Association strongly sup-
ports so-called passive eu-
thanasia, discontinuing
medical treatment for the
terminally ill.
• In 1991, the Oregon
legislature will consider
bills allowing physicians to
end the life of a terminally
ill patient. Hemlock Society
members are confident the
bill — which they call
"Death With Dignity" —will
pass, and are working on
similar campaigns in Wash-
ington, Florida and Califor-
nia. Hemlock members here
say they plan to see a
"Death With Dignity Bill"
in Michigan in the next few
years.
• Forty-four states and
Washington, D.C., recognize
the legality of living wills —
written requests in which a
person specifies which
treatments may be used to
continue his life. Michigan
does not now have a right-to-
die law, but Michigan
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
55