February 6 , 2002

U.S. Assisted-Suicide Activists Export Suicide to the Depressed in Ireland: Not Dead Yet Calls for Extradition of Perpetrators

Two American assisted-suicide activists have been reported by the Irish press to have been involved in the suicide of a depressed woman, Rosemary Toole Gilhooley. This unfortunate woman was depressed and did not have a known serious physical problem. The American assisted-suicide activists were thought to have received substantial sums of money for assisting in the suicide, according to the Irish Times, February 2, 2002.

Diane Coleman of Not Dead Yet, a disabilities rights group, is calling for the quick extradition of the American perpetrators. A Unitarian minister, Dr. Exoo, who is thought to have been involved, is scheduled to be interviewed by the FBI in a few days.

Dr. Gregory Hamilton, a psychiatrist and spokesperson for Physicians for Compassionate Care, says his organization joins Not Dead Yet in decrying the dangerous devaluing of human life by American assisted-suicide activists who are exporting suicide to the depressed in other countries. The seriously ill have been targeted first and now the depressed. The rest of the disabilities community is threatened next.