Front-Street Suicide

"In the early twentieth century, there were some individuals who broke from their-peers and viewed suicide as something other than a result of mental illness. For example in 1919 Alfred Hoche wrote of balance-sheet suicide, in which a person could weigh the pros and cons of living and decide that death was preferable." This comes from a book published in the U.S.A. entitled "Rational Suicide, Implications for Health Care Professionals", by James Werth, chair of the Hemlock Society's mental. health advisory committee and a national board member of Death with Dignity. "What Werth fails to mention," Nancy Valko comments, is "that Hoche' s major claim to fame is his coauthorising of the infamous 'Permitting the Destruction of Unworthy Life, 'which became a blueprint for the Nazis systematic extermination of people with physical, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities."

The Annual Conference of the American Psychological Association in August 2002, featured an all-day workshop on "end of life" issues led by James Werth. Disability activist from Not Dead Yet picketed the conference.