The video was shown despite warnings from physicians and politicians that it could encourage desperate, vulnerable, or mentally ill people to act on impulse. Cindy Noblitt and her husband, Mick Garvin, the producers of the show, had political reasons for showing the video. They hoped it would raise opposition to the Pain Relief Promotion Act, a bill being debated in the US Congress.
In the video, Humphry describes in a soft, soothing, calming, methodical, and grandfatherly way the details of “self-deliverance.” He shows how he mixed lethal drugs in coffee to help his first wife, Jean, take her life. Humphry lists the best drugs for a “comfortable” death and shows how to crush them with a spoon and mix them into applesauce.
He lists barbiturates from the most to the least effective and suggests taking them with beta blockers to lessen the time until death. To reduce the odds of failure, he shows how to place a plastic refrigerator bag over the head. Humphry does not mention that he and his first wife discussed assisted suicide only once, when she was in hospital with breast cancer. Nine months later, she asked, “Is this the day?” Humphry said, “Yes.” Her question could well have been a “suicidal gesture.” Was she really saying “Please pass the applesauce?” Or was she really asking for support and understanding? We'll never know for sure, but a question such as “Is this the day?” is not a free and open request for assisted suicide.
Oregon voted to legalize physician-assisted suicide in 1994, becoming the first state in the United States to do so. The legalization has confused mental health professionals, some of whom no longer believe that they have a duty to prevent all suicides.
Wesley J Smith suggests in his study, Forced exit: the slippery slope from assisted suicide to legalized murder (New York: Times Books/Random House, 1997), that all the premises about death with dignity have already been proved false. In addition, the public continues to be deceived about what is at stake in the debate about euthanasia. Smith is very concerned about the message sent to dying people. He says that the suggestion of assisted suicide confirms the dying person's fears about their own uselessness. It reinforces their worries about being burdens and their fears of dying in untreated pain. Smith says terminally ill people have every right to have their lives valued as much as any other person who becomes suicidal.
Freedom of speech does not relieve anyone of accountability for what they say
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber said that he hopes other cable television providers will not show the tape. “I hope that news organizations will be extremely judicious in using the tape as part of their coverage of the story,” he said. “It is grossly irresponsible to produce a how-to tape on suicide, given its potential to influence the acts of those who are not of sound mind, especially troubled youth.”1
According to Smith, Oregon now has the ninth highest suicide rate of any state in the country. Rita Marker, Executive Director of the International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force, is also concerned that the video could influence children. “The suicide rate for children age 10 to 17 has increased over 500% in the last 30 years,” she says. “This makes suicide the second leading cause of death for that age group.”2
Even some advocates of assisted suicide have called the video irresponsible. “The video takes assisted dying out of the context of medical care and puts it in the context of hardware store,” said Barbara Coombs Lee, who helped enact Oregon's law as director of the Compassion in Dying Federation.1
At best, the airing of this video is offensive because of its potential for harm. People in the media must realize that having the right to do something doesn't always make it right to do it. The First Amendment does not require the media to act foolishly. Freedom of speech does not relieve anyone of accountability for what they say. As with shouting “fire” in a crowded theater, everyone should be held responsible for their actions.