The Hemlock Society (sometimes called Hemlock Society USA) was an American right-to-die and assisted suicide advocacy organization which existed from 1980 to 2003, and took its name from the hemlock plant Conium maculatum, a highly herb in the carrot family, as a direct reference to the method by which the Classical Athens philosopher Socrates took his life in 399 Anno Domini, as described in Plato's Phaedo.
It was co-founded in Santa Monica, California by British author and Activism Derek Humphry, his wife Ann Wickett Humphry and Gerald A. Larue. It relocated to Oregon in 1988 and, according to Humphry, had several homes over the course of its life.
The Hemlock Society's primary mission included providing information to the dying and supporting legislation permitting physician-assisted suicide. Its motto was "Good Life, Good Death".
In 2003, the national organization renamed itself End of Life Choices. In 2004, former members of the Hemlock Society Derek Humphry and Faye Girsh, founded the Final Exit Network, after Humphry's Final Exit. In 2004, End-of-Life Choices merged with Compassion in Dying, which became Compassion & Choices. Several local and state organizations, including the Hemlock Society of Floridahttp://www.hemlockflorida.org/index.htm and the Hemlock Society of San Diego, have retained the Hemlock Society name. Others, such as the Hemlock Society of Illinois (Final Options Illinois), have changed their names.
The Hemlock Society was started in 1980 after the success of Derek Humphry's book Jean's Way (1978), which recounted how Humphry assisted his wife in committing suicide on 29 March 1975 after a long battle with cancer. Due to the success of Jean's Way, Humphry had received many letters from people asking for information about assisted suicide. He decided to start the Hemlock Society in an effort to campaign for a change in law and educate the terminally ill on assisted suicide and its methods. Initially started in Humphry's garage in Santa Monica, California, the group eventually moved to Eugene, Oregon, and had many other homes.
Let Me Die Before I Wake, Humphry's book on the methods of assisted suicide, was originally published for members of the Hemlock Society. Due to demand for the book, it was published for the market in 1982 and became part of the foundation for the Hemlock Society's reputation and income. In 1991, Humphry published Final Exit, subtitled "The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying". The book was a bestseller, though there were calls to ban it. After the success of Final Exit, Humphry left the Hemlock Society and started Euthanasia Research and Guidance Organization in 1992.
The Society was a founding charter member of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, which began in 1980 in Oxford, England, and was led by Sidney D. Rosoff and Humphry.
The Hemlock Society's national membership grew to include 40,000 individuals and eighty chapters.
The Society backed legislative efforts in California, Washington, Michigan, and Maine without success until the Oregon Death with Dignity Act was passed on October 27, 1997.
Past Hemlock Society USA presidents included Gerald A. Larue, Derek Humphry, Sidney D. Rosoff, Wiley Morrison, Arthur Metcalfe, John Westover, Faye J. Girsh. Past executive directors included Derek Humphry (acting 1980–1992), Cheryl K. Smith (1992–1993), John A. Pridonoff (1993–1995), Helen Voorhis (acting 1995–1996), and Faye J. Girsh (1996–2000).
The archives of the Hemlock Society and Derek Humphry are at the Allen Library, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
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