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Final Exit Network
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Final Exit Network
Final Exit Network, Inc. (FEN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit right to die advocacy group incorporated under Florida law. It holds that mentally competent adults who suffer from a terminal illness, intractable pain, or irreversible physical (though not necessarily terminal) conditions have a right to voluntarily end their lives. In cases deemed valid, Final Exit Network arranges what it refers to as "self deliverances". Typically, the network assigns two "exit guides" to a client and are present when they die, but the network states, and has proven in court, that it does not provide physical assistance in anyone's death; rather, their role is that of compassionate advisors and witnesses.
Final Exit Network was founded in 2004 by former members of the Hemlock Society, including that organization's co-founders, Derek Humphry and Dr. Faye Girsh. It was named after Humphry's 1991 book of the same name. It is a member of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
The organization has occasionally been the subject of controversy and criticism due to its methodology. It favors the inhalation of inert gasses such as helium or nitrogen in conjunction with an "exit hood".
Final Exit Network and individual members have been prosecuted in Arizona, Georgia, and Minnesota. The defenses have largely centered around what constitutes aiding or assisting in suicides. The defendants conceded that while volunteer exit guides give their clients information about how to ensure a swift, pain-free death, they do not physically take part in the suicides, and they maintain that prohibitions against informing clients how to take their lives violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The Minnesota case resulted in the first and only conviction of either Final Exit Network or any of its personnel. In the Minnesota trial, it was established that Final Exit Network personnel did not provide any physical assistance in the "suicide" of the "victim." The State openly acknowledged that the corporation (and only the corporation) was convicted solely for communicating "words" that "enabled" a suicide, not for any physical conduct. For its sentence, the corporation was ordered to pay $30,000 in fines and $2,975.63 in restitution. The Minnesota Court of Appeal affirmed the corporation's conviction in December 2016 (confirming there was no physical assistance but rejecting Final Exit Network's free speech argument); the Supreme Court of Minnesota declined to review the conviction in March 2017, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review in October 2017.
The Final Exit Network traces its history to the Hemlock Society. It was founded in 1980 primarily by British-born American journalist and author Derek Humphry, his late wife Ann Wickett Humphry, Canadian former Presbyterian minister-turned-skeptic Gerald A. Larue, and psychologist Dr. Faye Girsh. However, in the early 2000s, a faction decided they did not like the Hemlock name. In 2003, the national organization renamed itself End of Life Choices. They later merged with the Compassion in Dying Federation to become Compassion & Choices. Before the merger, Derek Humphry, Faye Girsh, and others founded the Final Exit Network. Where Compassion & Choices' focus is on legislative reform and advocating for and law change, the Final Exit Network concerns itself with what it believes to be the immediate issue of self-deliverance.
Typically, clients' only person-to-person contact with the Final Exit Network is through "exit guides", who are volunteers assigned by case coordinators to meet with clients and attend the death events.
As of 2016[update], the Network had about 30 guides. Guides provide services including companionship during death, education, advice regarding the discovery of remains and facilitation of conversations with friends and family. Before an applicant is approved for the Final Exit Network's services, a guide visits the applicant's home and conducts an interview with her or him and any family involved to assess if a voluntary and informed choice has been made by the applicant regarding self-deliverance.
In the Minnesota case of Doreen Dunn, the attendant exit guides were determined by the state to have removed the equipment with which she had ended her life.
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Final Exit Network
Final Exit Network, Inc. (FEN) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit right to die advocacy group incorporated under Florida law. It holds that mentally competent adults who suffer from a terminal illness, intractable pain, or irreversible physical (though not necessarily terminal) conditions have a right to voluntarily end their lives. In cases deemed valid, Final Exit Network arranges what it refers to as "self deliverances". Typically, the network assigns two "exit guides" to a client and are present when they die, but the network states, and has proven in court, that it does not provide physical assistance in anyone's death; rather, their role is that of compassionate advisors and witnesses.
Final Exit Network was founded in 2004 by former members of the Hemlock Society, including that organization's co-founders, Derek Humphry and Dr. Faye Girsh. It was named after Humphry's 1991 book of the same name. It is a member of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.
The organization has occasionally been the subject of controversy and criticism due to its methodology. It favors the inhalation of inert gasses such as helium or nitrogen in conjunction with an "exit hood".
Final Exit Network and individual members have been prosecuted in Arizona, Georgia, and Minnesota. The defenses have largely centered around what constitutes aiding or assisting in suicides. The defendants conceded that while volunteer exit guides give their clients information about how to ensure a swift, pain-free death, they do not physically take part in the suicides, and they maintain that prohibitions against informing clients how to take their lives violate the free speech clause of the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights. The Minnesota case resulted in the first and only conviction of either Final Exit Network or any of its personnel. In the Minnesota trial, it was established that Final Exit Network personnel did not provide any physical assistance in the "suicide" of the "victim." The State openly acknowledged that the corporation (and only the corporation) was convicted solely for communicating "words" that "enabled" a suicide, not for any physical conduct. For its sentence, the corporation was ordered to pay $30,000 in fines and $2,975.63 in restitution. The Minnesota Court of Appeal affirmed the corporation's conviction in December 2016 (confirming there was no physical assistance but rejecting Final Exit Network's free speech argument); the Supreme Court of Minnesota declined to review the conviction in March 2017, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari review in October 2017.
The Final Exit Network traces its history to the Hemlock Society. It was founded in 1980 primarily by British-born American journalist and author Derek Humphry, his late wife Ann Wickett Humphry, Canadian former Presbyterian minister-turned-skeptic Gerald A. Larue, and psychologist Dr. Faye Girsh. However, in the early 2000s, a faction decided they did not like the Hemlock name. In 2003, the national organization renamed itself End of Life Choices. They later merged with the Compassion in Dying Federation to become Compassion & Choices. Before the merger, Derek Humphry, Faye Girsh, and others founded the Final Exit Network. Where Compassion & Choices' focus is on legislative reform and advocating for and law change, the Final Exit Network concerns itself with what it believes to be the immediate issue of self-deliverance.
Typically, clients' only person-to-person contact with the Final Exit Network is through "exit guides", who are volunteers assigned by case coordinators to meet with clients and attend the death events.
As of 2016[update], the Network had about 30 guides. Guides provide services including companionship during death, education, advice regarding the discovery of remains and facilitation of conversations with friends and family. Before an applicant is approved for the Final Exit Network's services, a guide visits the applicant's home and conducts an interview with her or him and any family involved to assess if a voluntary and informed choice has been made by the applicant regarding self-deliverance.
In the Minnesota case of Doreen Dunn, the attendant exit guides were determined by the state to have removed the equipment with which she had ended her life.