X-Message-Number: 8796
Date:  Mon, 17 Nov 97 16:53:05 
From: Mike Perry <>
Subject: Autopsy Avoidance and Religious Liberty

One of the agonizing problems we face in cryonics is our 
deanimation. We want to be frozen with our brain tissue 
reasonably intact. We don't want, for example, to be the 
victim of a brain tumor that wipes out so much of the 
critical structure that there isn't very much of it left to 
freeze (as if we didn't have enough other problems!). So, 
we want the right to choose pre-mortem suspension. Unfor-
tunately, the law treats this as a form of assisted suicide, 
which is just beginning to be legalized, maybe, but we are 
still a long way from having *our* rights to do what we 
want recognized in this area.

On the other hand, a person with a brain-threatening illness 
could simply commit suicide unassisted, after which a 
freezing procedure could be started. The problem there is 
that most forms of unassisted suicide require an autopsy to 
be performed. (One that doesn't is death by refusal of food 
and fluids--a slow, miserable process that may take 10 days 
or more, however. But the law treats this as death by 
"natural" causes and thus no autopsy is mandated!) 

As an interim measure, until we can gain legal recognition 
of the right to a fully premortem suspension, we could 
work toward the right to suicide without autopsy. The main 
purpose of an autopsy is to establish the cause of death 
(right?), so this cause would have to be established in other 
ways. To me that seems as though it ought to be feasible, 
though I don't know what the legal complications would 
be. But if a person self-medicates to clinical death, the 
procedure could be videotaped, the medication(s) could be 
examined and tested, etc.

An additional possibility to consider would be a "religious" 
angle. The Venturist organization is recognized by the IRS 
as a "religious, scientific and educational" organization. 
We have long promoted and helped legitimize the 
"certificate of religious belief" whereby the cryonicist 
expresses a religious objection to autopsy. Extending this 
idea we could claim, with justification, that we are seeking 
exercise of religious liberties under the Constitution.

I'd be interested in feedback on this, particularly from 
people with legal expertise.

Finally, here are Dave Pizer's thoughts:

>Your ideas on Venturists being able to euthanize 
>ourselves by certain methods and be cryonically 
>suspended without autopsy are very good.
>
>Why don't you post something on CryoNet from the both 
>of us on this subject and ask cryoncists to send us their 
>ideas on the net.
>
>Also ask if there is a cryonicist lawyer out there who 
>would work on this for no charge.
>
>Are there any cryonicists out there who would donate 
>towards attorney fees to work on this?
>


Mike Perry
Society for Venturism


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