Assisted Suicide Proponents Seek to Expand With New 1-800 Suicide Con...( SACRAMENTO Calif. Sept. 18 /- As ...),Health

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- As predicted by opponents to "assisted suicide," those seeking to make the practice legal have now begun down the 'slippery slope'. Supporters of "assisted suicide," including a few members of the religious clergy, will announce today an effort to offer free counseling sessions -- via a new 1-800 number -- to help terminally ill people in California end their own lives.

"This effort to put a clerical collar on Dr. Kevorkian only makes assisted suicide creepier," said Tim Rosales, spokesperson for Californians Against Assisted Suicide. "Calling a 1-800 number to get counseled on how to commit suicide, no matter who is doing it, is not only risky and dangerous, but is sure to open the door to numerous questions regarding coercion and liability."

The California program will be similar to a national program by the Final Exit Network (http://www.FinalExitNetwork.com), a spin-off group of the Hemlock Society and End of Life Choices, which provides suicide counseling to anyone that meets the criteria of having an "incurable condition which causes intolerable suffering." (Source: http://www.FinalExitNetwork.com, Exit Guide Criteria, 9/17/2007)

These efforts typically counsel people on suicide methods including:

-- The use of plastic bags

-- Stockpiling drugs

Californians Against Assisted Suicide (CAAS) was established to defeat legislation that would legalize "assisted suicide" in California. CAAS is a coalition of health care, disability rights, and grassroots advocacy organizations united in strong opposition to the legalization of "assisted suicide."

http://www.CA-AAS.com