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'''Final Exit Network, Inc. (FEN)''' is an [[United States|American]] [[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3)]] [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]] [[right to die]] organization incorporated in [[Marietta, Georgia|Marietta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref name="content.time.com">[http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1882418,00.html Final Exit: Compassion or Assisted Suicide?]</ref>. It believes that
[[Competence (law)|mentally competent]] adults who suffer from [[terminal illness]]es, intractable pain, or irreversible physical (though not necessarily terminal) conditions have a right to voluntarily [[Suicide|end their lives]] or be [[Assisted suicide|assisted]] in doing so when they deem their life to be intolerable.<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/Mission.html Final Exit Network Mission page]</ref> In cases deemed valid, the Final Exit Network arranges what it refers to as "self-deliverances".<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/ FEN Homepage]</ref> Usually two "exit guides" are present when clients die, but the Final Exit Network insists that they do not take an active role;<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/Questions---Answers.html Questions---Answers]</ref> their role is that of
The organization was founded in 2004 by former members of the [[Hemlock Society]], including that organization's co-founders, [[Derek Humphry]] and Dr. Faye Girsh.<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/About-Us.html History of Final Exit Network]</ref> It was named after Humphry’s [[1991 in literature|1991]] [[Final Exit|book of the same name]].<ref>[http://www.finalexit.org/ergo-store/books-c-65/final-exit-3rd-edition-v31-paperback-p-180.html?zenid=9ldalrj24dtqb96k3hv0812ee5 ''Final Exit, The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying'' by Derek Humphry]</ref> It is a member of the [[World Federation of Right to Die Societies]].<ref>[http://www.worldrtd.net/member-organizations World Federation of Right to Die Societies member organizations]</ref>
Final Exit Network has occasionally been the subject of controversy due to its methodology
The network and individual members have been defendants in notable legal cases in [[Arizona]]<ref>[https://www.thedailybeast.com/lawerence-egbert-suicide-doctor-acquitted Lawerence Egbert: Suicide Doctor Acquitted]</ref>, Georgia<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/assisted-suicide-law-is-overturned-by-georgia-supreme-court.html Georgia Court Rejects Law Aimed at Assisted Suicide]</ref>, and [[Minnesota]].<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/Supreme-Court-MN-vs--Final-Exit-Network.html Supreme-Court-MN-vs--Final-Exit-Network]</ref> The defenses have largely centered around what constitutes aiding or assisting in suicides. The defendants conceded that while volunteer exit guides were present at the deaths of their clients, they did not physically take part in the suicides, and they alleged that prohibitions against informing clients how to take their lives is a violation of the [[free speech]] clause in the [[First Amendment]] to the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]].<ref>[http://www.finalexitnetwork.org/Home.html Home Page 2]</ref> The Minnesota case resulted in the first conviction of the Final Exit Network; they were ordered to pay in excess of [[United States dollar|$]]30,000 in fines and restitution.<ref>[http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/bs-hs-right-to-die-group-trial-20150514-story.html Right-to-die group convicted of assisting in Minnesota suicide]</ref> In October 2017, the [[United States Supreme Court]] declined to hear the case.<ref>[http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/10/02/assisted-suicide-case-scotus/]SCOTUS Declines To Hear Minnesota Assisted Suicide Case</ref>
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