X-Message-Number: 2781 From: whscad1!kqb (Kevin Q Brown +1 201 386 7344) Subject: CRYONICS Assisted Suicide Even under ideal conditions we do not know for certain that today's cryonics technology really preserves our memory and personality. Worse, that is only one of the major problems we face. Another major problem with cryonics _practice_ today is that human cryopreservations cannot be scheduled like normal operations. Instead, when the suspension organization gets informed that a member is going down, it immediately has to confront a number of logistically difficult problems getting the transport team, meds, equipment, transportation, hospital and related organizations, etc. lined up. If this isn't done perfectly (or nearly so), then the patient suffers a prolonged period of ischemia and receives a less than optimal cryopreservation. On the other hand, if a "right-to-die" law allowed assisted suicides in clearly terminal situations, where there is no quality of life remaining or any prospect of recovery, much of those emergency medicine problems could be avoided. Of course, cryonicists don't really want to die, but since the law cannot distinguish a dead person from a cryopreserved person, legal support for right-to-die may be exactly what is needed to avoid dying! Another case where legalized assisted suicides could help is where one is suffering from a brain tumor that slowly destroys one's memory and personality. In this case the _person_ may be long gone before the body dies. The only hope for such a person is to arrange for a cryosuspension before degeneration reaches that stage. The law may be changing to allow assisted suicides. The May 1994 issue of Venturist Monthly News reports on a May 5 newspaper article concerning a recent decision in Washington state: "Judge Barbara Rothstein of U.S. District Court in Seattle said the state's 140-year-old ban on assisted suicide violated the U.S. constitution, specifically the 14th amendment clause guaranteeing individual freedom from unwarranted state interference." This case was supported by a group called "Compassion in Dying," which, like the Hemlock Society, is a right-to-die advocacy group. The decision does not directly apply to cases outside the jurisdiction of that District Court, but, if I understand correctly, it nevertheless could influence outside cases. Kevin Q. Brown INTERNET or Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2781