Assisted Suicide Proponents Seek to Expand With New 1-800 Suicide Consultations

    SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As predicted by opponents
 to "assisted suicide," those seeking to make the practice legal have now
 begun down the 'slippery slope'. Supporters of "assisted suicide,"
 including a few members of the religious clergy, will announce today an
 effort to offer free counseling sessions -- via a new 1-800 number -- to
 help terminally ill people in California end their own lives.
     "This effort to put a clerical collar on Dr. Kevorkian only makes
 assisted suicide creepier," said Tim Rosales, spokesperson for Californians
 Against Assisted Suicide. "Calling a 1-800 number to get counseled on how
 to commit suicide, no matter who is doing it, is not only risky and
 dangerous, but is sure to open the door to numerous questions regarding
 coercion and liability."
     The California program will be similar to a national program by the
 Final Exit Network (http://www.FinalExitNetwork.com), a spin-off group of
 the Hemlock Society and End of Life Choices, which provides suicide
 counseling to anyone that meets the criteria of having an "incurable
 condition which causes intolerable suffering." (Source:
 http://www.FinalExitNetwork.com, Exit Guide Criteria, 9/17/2007)
     These efforts typically counsel people on suicide methods including:
 
     -- The use of plastic bags
     -- Stockpiling drugs
     Californians Against Assisted Suicide (CAAS) was established to defeat
 legislation that would legalize "assisted suicide" in California. CAAS is a
 coalition of health care, disability rights, and grassroots advocacy
 organizations united in strong opposition to the legalization of "assisted
 suicide."
                             http://www.CA-AAS.com
 
 

SOURCE Californians Against Assisted Suicide