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Lawrence Egbert, the new face of assisted suicide in America

The retired anesthesiologist from Baltimore has helped about 300 people commit suicide, but, he says, “I never get used to it.”

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Lawrence Egbert, 84, estimates he has been present for 100 suicides in the past 15 years, which puts him in the same league with famed assisted-suicide maverick Jack Kevorkian. Egbert calls Kevorkian a “radical” because the latter took an active role in some suicides. Egbert sees his own work as a calling and says he provides only guidance and support. But his zeal is tempered by self-doubt. “Once I am a true believer, that’s the time I should quit,” he says one afternoon. “I never get used to it. I’m not used to it now.” Egbert was acquitted in a case in Arizona, but another case looms in Georgia.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

This bag is designed to assist in a person’s suicide. Egbert says he approved applications for about 300 suicides, most as medical director of the Final Exit Network, a group that claims 3,000 members. Even within his own organization, Egbert is controversial. The vast majority of the network’s members suffer from physical ailments such as late-stage cancer, he says. But unlike the group’s current leadership, Egbert is willing, in extreme cases, he says, to serve as an “exit guide” for patients who have suffered from depression for extended periods of time. He is no longer the group’s medical director. He hopes to resume working as an exit guide after the Georgia case.

This bag is designed to assist in a person’s suicide. Egbert says he approved applications for about 300 suicides, most as medical director of the Final Exit Network, a group that claims 3,000 members. Even within his own organization, Egbert is controversial. The vast majority of the network’s members suffer from physical ailments such as late-stage cancer, he says. But unlike the group’s current leadership, Egbert is willing, in extreme cases, he says, to serve as an “exit guide” for patients who have suffered from depression for extended periods of time. He is no longer the group’s medical director. He hopes to resume working as an exit guide after the Georgia case.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

June Lennon, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has consulted Egbert about plans for her death, and she keeps helium tanks (used to help patients commit suicide) in a closet at her home in Bayonne, N.J. Helium is easy to get. Patients are told that they can buy helium tanks at party stores.

June Lennon, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, has consulted Egbert about plans for her death, and she keeps helium tanks (used to help patients commit suicide) in a closet at her home in Bayonne, N.J. Helium is easy to get. Patients are told that they can buy helium tanks at party stores.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Egbert at a panel session during the general assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in Charlotte in June. He formerly served as a campus Unitarian Universalist minister at Johns Hopkins University, but the university has not renewed that position since his arrest. Egbert wonders whether his assisted-suicide work could nudge society toward something awful. “I could be part of a slippery slope,” he says, “to us becoming like Nazis — the Final Exit Network, and me as an individual.”

Egbert at a panel session during the general assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in Charlotte in June. He formerly served as a campus Unitarian Universalist minister at Johns Hopkins University, but the university has not renewed that position since his arrest. Egbert wonders whether his assisted-suicide work could nudge society toward something awful. “I could be part of a slippery slope,” he says, “to us becoming like Nazis — the Final Exit Network, and me as an individual.”

Travis Dove / For The Washington Post

June Lennon with a bag and tubes that are designed to assist with a person's suicide.

June Lennon with a bag and tubes that are designed to assist with a person's suicide.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Bartender Chuck Zanelli gives June Lennon a pinch on the cheek at Hendrickson's Restaurant in Bayonne, N.J. When the summer heat mixes with pollutants from the factories near her home town, Lennon says she can barely breathe. Her Internet search for “painless suicide methods” led her to the Final Exit Network and Egbert. Lennon says Egbert tried to talk her out of it but agreed when he saw her struggle to walk up a set of stairs.

Bartender Chuck Zanelli gives June Lennon a pinch on the cheek at Hendrickson's Restaurant in Bayonne, N.J. When the summer heat mixes with pollutants from the factories near her home town, Lennon says she can barely breathe. Her Internet search for “painless suicide methods” led her to the Final Exit Network and Egbert. Lennon says Egbert tried to talk her out of it but agreed when he saw her struggle to walk up a set of stairs.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

A friend who was to be present during Lennon’s suicide told Lennon she had gotten a great acting gig. “Darling,” Lennon says her friend told her. “You’re simply going to have to reschedule your death. I can’t go on with that hanging over my head.” And so Lennon canceled her own death. But she keeps the helium tanks because she figures she might use them someday.

A friend who was to be present during Lennon’s suicide told Lennon she had gotten a great acting gig. “Darling,” Lennon says her friend told her. “You’re simply going to have to reschedule your death. I can’t go on with that hanging over my head.” And so Lennon canceled her own death. But she keeps the helium tanks because she figures she might use them someday.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Egbert bikes from his home to his office in Baltimore. In 2009, he was thrown to the road when his bicycle skidded. The accident left him with a broken pelvis; doctors said surgery wouldn’t help. In pain, he considered ending his life. “There are some people who like to suffer — that there is a religious gain in suffering,” he says. “I don’t believe that.” But he began to mend, and when the end does come, Egbert figures, he’ll “go into the ground and rot.” He doesn’t believe in an after-life. “I don’t think it’s worthwhile to worry about what happens to you when you’re dead.”

Egbert bikes from his home to his office in Baltimore. In 2009, he was thrown to the road when his bicycle skidded. The accident left him with a broken pelvis; doctors said surgery wouldn’t help. In pain, he considered ending his life. “There are some people who like to suffer — that there is a religious gain in suffering,” he says. “I don’t believe that.” But he began to mend, and when the end does come, Egbert figures, he’ll “go into the ground and rot.” He doesn’t believe in an after-life. “I don’t think it’s worthwhile to worry about what happens to you when you’re dead.”

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

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