X-Message-Number: 20007
Date: Sat, 7 Sep 2002 09:38:07 -0400
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: CryoNet #19998 - #20006

For Scott Badger:

The reason that starving yourself to death works for cryonics while
other solutions, such as gasing yourself, do not work isn't a matter
of the biological medical situation at all. It is a way which gets
around laws which would have you autopsied if you chose any other
method. To those who really want to commit suicide, rather than being
suspended, whether or not they are autopsied after their "death" is
irrelevant. And hardly important. To cryonicists, it is crucial.

I was once the center of a legal case asking whether or not suspension
by a cryonics team would be considered suicide. My side (Alcor),
through their lawyer, who incidentally was a good one, argued that
it was not and should be allowed without autopsy. The other side
basically won, though not formally. As for current movements which
aim to assistance in committing suicide by a physician legal, I
would restrain my judgement as to whether or not they would actually
help us until I saw the actual law itself. If the result is likely
to be autopsy, SORRY, NO GO. (As you can guess, I recovered from
the condition which caused us the launch the legal case, contrary
to the expectation of many). 

Yes, starvation is neither nice nor nondamaging. However if you
would otherwise die of severe brain damage, it's better than doing
nothing at all and letting Nature take its usual painful course.
And while I am skeptical that reversible cryopreservation (if we
get it in the near future) will cause a great surge of interest
in cryonics, I will say that it would answer all the arguments
that those suspended before "death" should be autopsied. But as for
now we must deal with the unfortunately real world.

		Best and long long life for all,

			Thomas Donaldson

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