(August 7th, 2010 @ 12:27pm)
PHOENIX - The deaths of an elderly Sedona couple who followed through on a murder-suicide pact they agreed to decades ago has brought up questions about the right to die.
Lansing C. Holden, 83, and his wife, Carol, 78, were found dead in a Colorado cabin on July 26.
Holden shot his wife in the temple before turning the gun on himself.
The Holdens were members of the Final Exit Network, a nonprofit that promotes ``the right of every adult to a peaceful, dignified death,'' according to its Web site.
The Holdens left a note behind that read:
Many years ago we decided to be in charge of the timing of our own death. Hopefully it would be when the lines of normal aging, health problems and finances all crossed. It is our intention to avoid the indignities of prolonged nursing home care or terminal hospitalization.
3TV held a roundtable discussion with a group of Valley women about the right to die.
Views on a person's right to die were conflicting.
Lola Boan supported the couple's right to die:
I would rather not live six months or a year and be able to give the money to my grandkids and children.
Irene Weitzman said the couple still owed something to society.
They killed themselves unnecessarily. They could've been useful members of society.
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