Hemlock Society is an “American right-to-die and assisted suicide advocacy organization,” which was founded in Santa Monica in 1980 and later renamed End of Life Choices. Makes an organized effort to promote assisted suicide, which is made even more ethically concerning due to profit and power interests.
Jacob Kevorkian illegally conducted physician-assisted suicide for at least 130 patients and later was convicted of murder. It is ethically troubling that some of his patients were not terminally ill, and some even suffered from non-physical illnesses, such as depression.
Brittany Maynard was a case that jumpstarted the legalization of PAS across the United States because Brittany was diagnosed with a terminal illness for which she had to relocate to Oregon, where it was initially legal. California lawmakers legalized PAS on the basis of this single case, which rippled to 11 other states. These states include Colorado, DC, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and California.