"Final Exit" Group Infiltrated, Leader is Arrested

The Final Exit Network is a group of people who have made it their mission to help people commit the act of suicide, sorry, I should say that they guide people through "self deliverance" (that's how they describe it anyway). They are ready to help people who are interested in ending their own lives, people others may have turned away, people like 58 year-old John Celmer. John was a member of the group and was "guided" by the group to his "self deliverance" by suffocating himself with a helium tank and plastic bag.

As reported in the Chicago Tribune, the group was infiltrated by an undercover Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent and 4 members, including the President, were arrested in connection to Mr. Celmer's death.

You see, the group wants "to serve people who are suffering intolerably from an irreversible condition which has become more than they can bear." Mr. Celmer certainly had a lot to bear. He was recently declared cancer-free after battling throat and mouth cancer - a "remarkable recovery" as his doctors put it. Are you detecting a bit of sarcasm here?

I can't help but be a bit perplexed. I'm supportive of death with dignity acts, though with quality palliative care I think they are rarely needed. But providing non-terminal individuals with counseling, advice, and equipment to help them end their lives is just wrong. Mr. Celmer's mother stated that he may have been depressed about his physical appearance as a result of his cancer. Is this the intolerable suffering that the network looks for in individuals? Is every depressed individual, or anyone with low self-esteem eligible for this groups assistance?

I don't mean to downplay Celmer's distress. I'm sure he was suffering a great deal with the change in his appearance and who knows what other things life was throwing at him. But couldn't Mr. Celmer have been better served with advice to see a therapist, not advice to end his life?

Okay, I know I'm probably stepping on some toes here and please feel free to disagree with me. I'm not saying that this group is bad. I think that their intentions are good, but perhaps misguided. Suicide is not an option we should be advertising to anyone who's in any kind of distress. Physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients who are suffering greatly despite adequate palliative care is a completely different topic that I'll get into another time.