X-Message-Number: 5955
Date:  Mon, 18 Mar 96 18:20:16 
From: Steve Bridge <>
Subject: Premortem suspension

To CryoNet
>From Steve Bridge, Alcor
March 18, 1996

In reply to:  Message #5918
              Newsgroups: sci.cryonics,sci.life-extension
              From:  (Brad Templeton)
              Subject: Re: Virtue of suffering -- right to die in western
                  USA
              Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 22:26:02 GMT


     I've been out of town for a few days, and this is now old news; so I
won't repost this reply on sci.cryonics.

     After noting the recent court decision in favor of a right to
assisted suicide, Brad says:

>However, I strongly advise all cryonics organizations to stay as far away
>from the concept as possible for many years to come, until public opinion
>on this becomes more settled.

>Imagine for a moment how you would feel if there were some "religion"
>(say one like the Chruch of Scientology) and this religion promised, as
>many religions do, the potential for life after death, and it said your
>chances at life after death were better if you killed yourself early,
>possibly with their help or the help of an assisted suicide doctor, and
>that there were nil unless you paid $50,000 out of your estate or life
>assurance in order to join the church.

>Suppose that people were buying this and handing over the $50,000 or even
>larger sums, and killing themselves early, before their brians
>deteriorated.  Suppose it was clear that these people would probably have
>just let their life run its course if it weren't for the fact that this
>church said that it improved your chances of life after death if you
>offed yourself while you still had viable life left.

>Would you approve of this?  How would you feel about efforts to prohibit
>this practice?

[deletion]

>But people in the outside world think the cryonics teams are quacks, so
>they would think about pre-mortem cryopreservation pretty much the same
>thing you would think if the Church of Scientology were selling something
>like what I described above. -- Brad Templeton, publisher, ClariNet
>Communications Corp.

     Brad, you fail to note whether this religion was only selling
assisted suicide to terminal patients with the end of their life very near
or to all living members.  The different is critical.

     If any cryonics society today were willing to place NON-terminal
members into suspension (or cryopreservation, to use Brian Wowk's
preferred term), I would roundly denounce them as dangerous nuts (as would
the other leaders of cryonics organizations, I feel sure).

     I would not feel the same about suspensions of clearly terminal
patients ("terminal" meaning less than 6 months to live, as judged by two
doctors, and not curable by current technology) prior to legal death (as
currently defined).  Now here's the kicker:

     IF (very big word, that) the members of the religion were given
enough information to provide informed consent, and IF this were only
applied to clearly terminal members (by the same criteria as above), then
I would NOT protest the church members' decision to commit suicide, even
if they paid money to the Church for the privilege.

     I might state that I thought they were making a stupid decision; but
I wouldn't take away their right to make it.

     That all said, Alcor is certainly NOT about to jump into freezing
pre-mortem patients without some very clear legal direction.  On the other
hand, I do not expect we will depend on the weight of "public opinion"
becoming positive before such an act takes place.  If we depend on that,
why do cryonics at all today?  I doubt that public opinion is yet
overwhelmingly in favor of cryonics.



Stephen Bridge, President ()

Alcor Life Extension Foundation
Non-profit cryonic suspension services since 1972.
7895 E. Acoma Dr., Suite 110, Scottsdale AZ 85260-6916
Phone (602) 922-9013  (800) 367-2228   FAX (602) 922-9027
 for general requests
http://www.webcom.com/~alcor


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