{"id":66422,"date":"2015-07-12T19:28:54","date_gmt":"2015-07-12T23:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"\/news\/?p=66422"},"modified":"2015-07-13T12:57:28","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T16:57:28","slug":"tennessees-brittany-maynard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee’s Brittany Maynard"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

John Jay Hooker is a familiar name in the state of Tennessee. Until recently he had been described in a tongue and cheek manner as a political gadfly and perennial candidate<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 A gifted orator, born to a prominent family, \u00a0Hooker\u2019s\u00a0 verbiage \u00a0often got him in trouble as in 2010 when he had his law license suspended<\/a> for thirty days\u00a0 and was publicly censored for filing frivolous law suits and making statements regarding judges with \u201creckless disregard of their truth or falsity.\u201d \u00a0Hooker is known for championing his causes with passion and flamboyance. Now in his eighties and diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer, he is now being revered as Tennessee\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard<\/a> as he seeks to bring physician assisted suicide to his home state.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tennessee, along with 45 other states, outlaws physician assisted suicide. This should not to be confused a patient\u2019s right to decline treatments or use living wills to stipulate what measures they want used to keep them alive. It also does not prohibit the use of palliative care which has the purpose of relieving pain until natural death occurs. Physician assisted suicide would allow a doctor, upon request, to give a prescription for a lethal drug with to end the life of the patient. \u00a0They alleviate pain by killing the patient.<\/p>\n

A bill was introduced in the TN General Assembly earlier in the year by Democrats as a\u00a0courtesy to Hooker<\/a>\u00a0and met with a lukewarm but polite response.\u00a0 It promptly was assigned to a summer study committee<\/a>, a tactic used to gently end discussion. \u00a0Hooker, who never gently ends any discussion, brought a lawsuit against the state arguing that the law forbidding assisted suicide as unconstitutional, citing the privacy clause in the state constitution to attempt to accomplish by judicial fiat what could not get done in the legislative body answerable to the people. That tactic has been used successfully before by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood<\/a> to wipe out restrictions around legalized abortions passed by the state legislature. It took 14 years and amending<\/a> the state constitution to correct this.<\/p>\n

The liberal editorial board of the Tennessean quickly endorsed physician assisted suicide<\/a>\u00a0and lionized Hooker as a civil rights champion, not mentioning<\/a>\u00a0his earlier ties to the paper. They praised his fiery rhetoric as they endorsed him and his cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt last month\u2019s TedX Nashville conference, Hooker gave a rousing speech concerning his desire to take his life with a physician\u2019s help, and it earned him a standing ovation after he recited at the end Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s famous words: \u201cFree at last, free at last.\u201d<\/p>\n

I sat\u00a0through the two hour court case heard in Chancery Court on July 10th by Chancellor Carol McCoy. The state\u2019s main argument was straightforward and asked the judge to dismiss the suit since public policy matters should be decided in the General Assembly and not the courts. They pointed out the state\u2019s compelling interest in preserving all life and warned of the eroding protections for the vulnerable population that may be at risk with the overturning of this protective law. The poor, elderly, disabled, and mentally deficient citizens would be endangered as the right to duty quickly morphs into the duty to die.\u00a0 Allowing assisted suicide would also erode the trust between patient and doctor who would go from healer to executioner.<\/p>\n

What astounded me most about the arguments from the lawyers supporting assisted suicide was the amount of time spent on telling emotional stories laced with extreme hyperbole of slow, painful deaths emphasizing the discomfort of family members having to watch loved ones lose their bodily functions and dignity instead of focusing on legal merits of their argument. The hyperbole included a paper from a Vanderbilt professor describing a sick old woman (later identified as his mother) who stored up sleeping pills for her suicide and her distress when she could not find them at the appropriate time.<\/p>\n

When they did mention the merits of the case using the law, they argued that the Constitution should be an evolving and growing document that responds to changing times and poll numbers. \u00a0They referenced the growing aging population and said this may be in great demand by this age group! \u00a0Or do they mean in demand for<\/em> this age group? Slip of the tongue?? Their other legal argument centered on a privacy clause in the state constitution and that the current language in the law forbidding assisted suicide was vague.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hooker seemed larger than life in the courtroom, though not speaking all cameras were trained on his every expression as his lawyer used terms as \u201crendezvous with death\u201d and spoke of his desire to have dignity and die at home surrounded by loved ones.\u00a0 While no one is challenging his right to discontinue treatments, the lawyer suggested that having a script for a lethal dosage may give someone like him the courage to go for the experimental trial, knowing they had the backup plan of the lethal meds at the ready. \u00a0His lawyer stoked fear insisting not allowing assisted suicide was like murder forcing the patient to endure a slow death.\u00a0 He referred to the refusal to allow this like being in hell continually tormented by the devil!<\/p>\n

I cringed at weak and inappropriate attempts at humor comparing those who have a fear of flying smuggling small bottles of vodka on the plane to ease their fear. I was most offended when they suggested that we are kinder to dogs that we put down with sorrow in our hearts. So much for the sanctity of human <\/u>life!<\/p>\n

After two hours of testimony, the Chancellor did not give her ruling pending the submission of supplemental briefs from each side. She promised to do her best to expedite her decision noting that time was of the essence for Hooker.<\/p>\n

As Mr. Hooker exited the courtroom, he was surrounded by reporters and cameras. He stopped to give a statement that was run on many media outlets. \u00a0Also exiting the courtroom in wheelchairs or with assistance, many representing Not Dead Yet<\/a> or other disability rights organizations, were largely ignored as they silently made their way past the crowd. \u00a0\u00a0So \u00a0this was the \u00a0marketing of the culture of death.<\/p>\n

As someone who lost a spouse to a malignant brain tumor and currently married to a man who also lost his first wife to the same brain tumor, we can attest that you can die a natural death, surrounded by loved ones in your own home and with the assistance of palliative care. The memory of every day, hour and minute was precious. \u00a0They were the true heroes who had death with dignity.<\/p>\n

Note:\u00a0Reprinted from Pro Life in TN with permission<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Jay Hooker is a familiar name in the state of Tennessee. Until recently he had been described in a tongue and cheek manner as a political gadfly and perennial candidate.\u00a0\u00a0 A gifted orator, born to a prominent family, \u00a0Hooker\u2019s\u00a0 verbiage \u00a0often got him in trouble as in 2010 when he had his law license […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[575,1303,2863,4122,4123,3996,14,690],"yoast_head":"\nTennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/march_group_photo_og-1-700x467.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Susan Allen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Susan Allen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Susan Allen\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5df14299f41aaeff32c69fc247eeec46\"},\"headline\":\"Tennessee’s Brittany Maynard\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\"},\"wordCount\":1130,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"ACLU\",\"assisted suicide\",\"Brittany Maynard\",\"John Jay Hooker\",\"Not Dead Yet\",\"physician-assisted suicide\",\"Planned Parenthood\",\"Tennessee\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\",\"name\":\"Tennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00\",\"description\":\"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tennessee’s Brittany Maynard\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5df14299f41aaeff32c69fc247eeec46\",\"name\":\"Susan Allen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedb37e86c9dd89c0143780549bd356e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedb37e86c9dd89c0143780549bd356e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Susan Allen\"},\"description\":\"Susan Allen is active in several pro-life causes in Tennessee, writing and speaking for the sanctity of human life. She hosts\u00a0\u00a0 a blog called\u00a0 Pro Life in TN and also writes for Jill Stanek \u00a0with the twice weekly\u00a0 Pro Life Blog Buzz.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/susan-allen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News","description":"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News","og_description":"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/march_group_photo_og-1-700x467.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Susan Allen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Susan Allen","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/"},"author":{"name":"Susan Allen","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5df14299f41aaeff32c69fc247eeec46"},"headline":"Tennessee’s Brittany Maynard","datePublished":"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/"},"wordCount":1130,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["ACLU","assisted suicide","Brittany Maynard","John Jay Hooker","Not Dead Yet","physician-assisted suicide","Planned Parenthood","Tennessee"],"articleSection":["Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/","name":"Tennessee's Brittany Maynard - Live Action News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-07-12T23:28:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-13T16:57:28+00:00","description":"In his 80s and diagnosed with terminal cancer, John Jay Hooker is TN\u2019s version of Brittany Maynard as he seeks to bring physician-assisted suicide to TN.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessees-brittany-maynard\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tennessee’s Brittany Maynard"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5df14299f41aaeff32c69fc247eeec46","name":"Susan Allen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedb37e86c9dd89c0143780549bd356e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dedb37e86c9dd89c0143780549bd356e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Susan Allen"},"description":"Susan Allen is active in several pro-life causes in Tennessee, writing and speaking for the sanctity of human life. She hosts\u00a0\u00a0 a blog called\u00a0 Pro Life in TN and also writes for Jill Stanek \u00a0with the twice weekly\u00a0 Pro Life Blog Buzz.","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/susan-allen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66422"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/266"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66422"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66422\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66476,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66422\/revisions\/66476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}