SAVES is not affiliated with Exit International / Dr Philip Nitschke and opposes the public availability of a 'peaceful pill'.

Quotes

The following article is from the SAVES newsletter, The VE Bulletin, Vol 16 No 3, November 99

Psalm for Today

  • Medical science is my shepherd;

    • I shall not want.
    It maketh me to lie down in hospital beds;
    It leadeth me beside the marvels of technology.
    It restoreth my brain waves:
    It maintains me in a persistent vegetative state for its name's sake.
    Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will find no end to life;
    Thy respirator and heart machine they sustain me
    In the presence of irreversible disability;
    Thou anointeth my head with oil;
    My cup runneth on and on and on and on.
    Surely coma and unconsciousness shall follow me all the days of my continued breathing;
    And I will dwell in the intensive care unit forever.
Written by a Unitarian minister, these sentiments were not intended to be sacrilegious. They capture the genuine fear that many people associate with loss of control over their own care.

Reprinted from the VESS Newsletter of April 1994 quoting the Newsletter of The Hemlock Society of Maryland.