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Terminally ill Missouri woman, 79, taking trip to Switzerland for assisted suicide

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Terminally ill Missouri woman, 79, taking trip to Switzerland for assisted suicide

A terminally ill Missouri woman is planning to go to Switzerland to end her own life in a physician-assisted death while she is still physically capable of making the trip.

Gayle Hendrix, a 79-year-old mother of two from Cape Girardeau, was diagnosed with lupus and interstitial lung disease four years ago and says her lung capacity continues to worsen.

“I’ve had a great life, and I want to have some dignity when I’m going to the next phase,” she told 12 KFVS.

After her diagnosis, she says her shortness of breath continued to become worse and was breathing heavily even on flat surfaces.

PHYSICALLY HEALTHY DUTCH WOMAN DIES BY ASSISTED SUICIDE AT AGE 29

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A doctor prepares a syringe with “Thiopental” a barbiturate that is used in the practice of euthanasia in a hospital in Belgium, on February 1, 2024. (Getty Images)

“My friends will say, ‘But you don’t look or sound or act like somebody who is near death.’ But I am dying, and that’s what I want to control,” she said. 

“I don’t want to get to the point of, ‘This is existing, not living,’” Hendrix continued. 

Hendrix must use an oxygen machine and can only walk short distances.

She had lived an active lifestyle before her diagnosis, which included traveling a lot for work, hiking and riding a bicycle.

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“She was always busy, always … She always either had three jobs or she was going somewhere, like to concerts or festivals,” her daughter, Charlene Foeste, told the news station.

Hendrix, who is originally from North Carolina, is now a retiree after having had a career in human resources. She also lived in other locations during her career before returning to Missouri.

“I would love to say I was a poet, a painter and a musician … I have nothing in that arena,” Hendrix said with a laugh. “So, I think that’s why I took up walking because I can walk. I was an avid walker, anywhere from three to five miles a day … every day up until about three years ago.”

Following her retirement, Hendrix grew bored and went back to work during the pandemic as a contact tracer. She recently retired again, as she prepares for her next chapter.

“It is going to be hard, but I know that, and I know sort of what to expect and what the end result is going to be for sure,” Foeste said.

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Hendrix and Foeste will board an airplane this week for a flight to Switzerland where Hendrix will end her life on Sept. 26 through assisted suicide.

“When I started seeing more and more decline, like monthly, I can tell this is not as good as it was last month. I knew then if I wanted to do it when I’m still able to walk in and still make the trip, then I need to do it soon,” Hendrix said.

Physician-assisted death is legal in the U.S. in ten states and Washington, D.C. All but two of these places have residency requirements, with the exceptions being Vermont and Oregon.

disability campaigner

A disability campaigner from the Dignity in Dying group holds a placard as she demonstrates in central London, on April 29, 2024, during a gathering in favor of the proposals to legalize assisted suicide in the U.K. (Getty Images)

But Hendrix is choosing to end her life in another country because, among other rules and regulations, a patient must have six months or less to live to undergo assisted suicide where it is legal in the U.S.

“I don’t want to wait that long,” Hendrix said. “I don’t want to get that sick.”

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Even before her diagnosis, Hendrix had spent decades advocating for the right to assisted suicide, including by becoming involved with groups like Compassion and Choices, a nonprofit that works to increase access to so-called death with dignity.

She filled out the paperwork for her assisted death this past spring and was planning to make the trip to Switzerland in August, but she had to push her timeline back due to a lack of open spots for the procedure during that time.

“They put an IV in your arm and the first medicine that goes through puts you to sleep and the second one stops all body functions,” Hendrix said. “They have some kind of button on the IV, you have to be able to push that button and that starts the fluid. In five minutes it’s done.”

When her life ends, she will be cremated and her remains will be shipped back to Missouri in a couple of weeks.

Hendrix said she is not nervous about the trip, but acknowledges the impact her death will have on her family.

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“It’s a huge loss, a huge loss for us,” Foeste said. “It’s not going to be the same. It’s just not.”

Hendrix said she has had tough conversations with friends and family who do not support her decision to end her life through assisted suicide, including some who believe what she is doing is morally wrong.

“Some of them are religious, and, you know, have some views, but I think because I’ve been open about it for so long around people, they weren’t shocked,” Hendrix said.

Her daughter is among the people who do not support her decision to end her life.

CALIFORNIA SENATOR PUSHES ‘DEATH ON DEMAND’ ASSISTED SUICIDE MEASURE

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Campaigners from Dignity in Dying organization take part in a rally outside Houses of Parliament in support of assisted dying as Members of Parliament debate in Commons proposals to changing the law on assisted dying in London, United Kingdom on April 29, 2024.

Campaigners from the Dignity in Dying organization rally in support of the right of assisted dying as Members of Parliament debate in Commons proposals to change the law on assisted dying in London, United Kingdom on April 29, 2024. (Getty Images)

“I can’t say I agree with her decision, I don’t,” Foeste said. “But, it’s not my choice. I do love her and support her and there’s no way on the planet my mom is going to do this alone, no way.”

“I love her and support her 100%, no matter what,” Foeste added. “She knows that, my kids know that, and I just wish more people were like that.”

Hendrix said she is aware she could potentially miss out on more quality living, but does not want to run the risk of ending up in a hospital bed.

“I just am peaceful about my decision, and it’s the right thing for me and my body,” Hendrix said.

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In the Weight Loss War, Eating Bean & Veggie Soups May Be More Effective Than Keto

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September 26, 2024

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In the Weight Loss War, Eating Bean & Veggie Soups May Be More Effective Than Keto


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Federal judge orders EPA further regulate fluoride in drinking water due to concerns over lowered IQ in kids

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10 hours ago

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September 26, 2024

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Federal judge orders EPA further regulate fluoride in drinking water due to concerns over lowered IQ in kids

It has been added to municipal water for decades, but a federal judge in California has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to further regulate fluoride because high levels could pose “an unreasonable risk” to the intellectual development of children.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen ruled Tuesday that the scientific evidence of fluoride’s health risks when ingested at current prescribed levels requires stricter regulation under the 2016 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The act provides a legal pathway for citizens to petition the EPA to consider whether an industrial chemical presents health risks.

Chen, in his 80-page ruling, wrote there is “little dispute” over whether fluoride is hazardous and ordered the EPA to take steps to lower that risk, but didn’t say what those measures should be.

“Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure,” the judge said. “And ample evidence establishes that a mother’s exposure to fluoride during pregnancy is associated with IQ decrements in her offspring.”

FLUORIDE IN WATER LINKED TO LOWER INTELLIGENCE

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A drop of water drips from a leaky faucet. (iStock)

“Between 1981 and 1984, fluoride’s association with adverse effects including osteosclerosis, enamel fluorosis, and psychological and behavioral problems was contested,” Chen said.

At the same time, he wrote that the court’s finding “does not conclude with certainty that fluoridated water is injurious to public health,” Chen said. “Rather, as required by the Amended TSCA, the Court finds there is an unreasonable risk of such injury, a risk sufficient to require the EPA to engage with a regulatory response.

“This order does not dictate precisely what that response must be. Amended TSCA leaves that decision in the first instance to the EPA. One thing the EPA cannot do, however, in the face of this Court’s finding, is to ignore that risk,” Chen added. 

“If the Court finds anew that the chemical at issue presents an unreasonable risk, it then orders the EPA to engage in rulemaking regarding the chemical,” the judge said. “The EPA is afforded in the first instance the authority to respond; regulatory actions can range from requiring a mere warning label to banning the chemical.”

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An EPA spokesperson, Jeff Landis, told The Associated Press that the agency was reviewing the decision but offered no further comment.

It’s the first time a federal judge has made a determination about the neurodevelopmental risks to children of the recommended U.S. water fluoride level, said Ashley Malin, a University of Florida researcher who has studied the effect of higher fluoride levels in pregnant women.

She called it “the most historic ruling in the U.S. fluoridation debate that we’ve ever seen.”

Currently, more than 200 million Americans, or about 75 percent of the population, drink fluoridated water.

Close-up view of open toothpaste tube, cap and tooth brush in front of a blue backdrop.

Fluoride is added to many brands of toothpaste (iStock)

DOES FLUORIDE IN DRINKING WATER HURT YOUR BRAIN?

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In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and they continued to promote it even after fluoride toothpaste brands hit the market several years later. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Michigan became the first city in the world to fluoridate its water supply. 

Critics have long said that washing teeth with fluoride is not comparable to the risks posed by ingesting fluoride, with the latter potentially triggering harmful neurotoxic effects. 

Since 2015, federal health officials have recommended a fluoridation level of 0.7 milligrams per liter of water. For five decades before that, the recommended upper range was 1.2 “after evidence increasingly established fluoride’s connection to adverse effects, including severe enamel fluorosis, risk of bone fracture, and potential skeletal fluorosis,” the judge wrote. Skeletal fluorosis is a potentially crippling disorder which causes weaker bones, stiffness and pain.

The World Health Organization has set a safe limit for fluoride in drinking water of 1.5. Separately, the EPA has a longstanding requirement that water systems cannot have more than 4 milligrams of fluoride per liter of water. 

The case was brought by Food and Water Watch, an advocacy organization which petitioned the EPA to investigate lowered IQs in children allegedly caused by fluoride. The EPA denied the group’s 2016 petition calling for the agency to ban or limit the fluoridation of drinking water. 

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Food & Water Watch and several co-petitioners subsequently sued the EPA to compel action citing the mounting scientific evidence of toxicity when fluoride is ingested.

“Today’s ruling represents an important acknowledgment of a large and growing body of science indicating serious human health risks associated with fluoridated drinking water,” the group said in a statement.

water treatment fluoride

A water utility foreman at a plant where fluoride is added to the drinking water in Healdsburg, California. (Michael Macor/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

“This court looked at the science and acted accordingly. Now the EPA must respond by implementing new regulations that adequately protect all Americans – especially our most vulnerable infants and children – from this known health threat.”

Tuesday’s ruling cited a review of 72 human epidemiological studies and available literature by the U.S. National Toxicology Program which concluded that fluoride is connected to reduced IQ in children.

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“Notwithstanding recognition by EPA’s expert that fluoride is hazardous, the EPA points to technicalities at various steps of the risk evaluation to conclude that fluoride does not present an unreasonable risk,” Chen said. “Primarily, the EPA argues the hazard level and the precise relationship between dosage and response at lower exposure levels are not entirely clear. These arguments are not persuasive.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

READ THE RULING BELOW — APP USERS CLICK HERE: 

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

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You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

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Mom issues warning after health scare, plus 'therapy ponies' and a new COVID strain

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21 hours ago

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September 26, 2024

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Mom issues warning after health scare, plus 'therapy ponies' and a new COVID strain

Justine Carter (left) experienced a spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) while on the treadmill. At right, she reunites with the EMS team who saved her life at HCA Healthcare’s Mountain View Hospital. (Justine Carter)

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XEC represents a shuffling of two descendants of last year’s JN.1 strain, according to an infectious diseases expert. (iStock)

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