Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Written Testimony Submitted for the Record by
Carol Tyson, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund to the Massachusetts State Joint Committee on Public Health
for the October 1, 2021 Hearing on the
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End-of-Life Options Act
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H.2381 / S.1384
Oppose
I write on behalf of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) to urge your strong opposition to the End-of-Life Options Act which would legalize assisted suicide, or aid in dying. The bill is dangerous and would have unintended negative consequences for people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and people of color who already face discrimination and unequal access to quality healthcare.
DREDF is a national civil rights law and policy center directed by individuals with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities. Our mission is to advance the civil and human rights of people with disabilities, including ensuring access to adequate healthcare and services. DREDF believes there are deep systemic problems that make the legalization of assisted suicide bad public policy.
Should the End-of-Life Options Act become law assisted suicide becomes the cheapest treatment available – an attractive option in a profit-driven healthcare system in which financial pressures already play too great a role. If insurers deny, or even merely delay, approval of expensive, life-giving treatments, patients will, in effect, be steered toward doctor-prescribed suicide. For example, patients Barbara Wagner and Randy Stroup, Oregonians with cancer, were both informed that their plan would not pay for their chemotherapy, but would pay for their assisted suicide. 64-year-old Wagner’s insurance refused to pay for a $4,000 a month drug to treat her lung cancer, but offered instead a physician-assisted drug that would cost $50. 1
In addition, populations that currently lack equal access to quality care, services or supports, and face discrimination, may be offered assisted suicide at greater rates. These disparities cannot be ignored. Studies have shown that Black people are less likely than non-hispanic whites to be referred for cardiac procedures, to receive opiate pain medication in the emergency room, or to be referred for kidney transplantation once on dialysis. Many of these same disparities are true for the Hispanic community. 2
Providing a cost-cutting treatment such as assisted suicide in a system that is not meeting the needs of those whose healthcare cost are highest, and who face discrimination, is dangerous. People with disabilities, the elderly and chronically ill, and Black, Indigenous and People of Color will be disparately impacted.
Finally, I acquired my disability through a traumatic and near-terminal accident. It was due only to my privilege and access to resources that I was able to return to my home rather than a long- term care facility, and that I am here today. Health professionals, family members and strangers have all voiced their sympathy regarding what my life would and has become. The stigma of living with a disability is prevalent. Had assisted suicide been legal and offered as an option there were times when I likely would have accepted. I am deeply grateful that it was not, and implore Committee members to focus on improving palliative care, and access to quality healthcare, supports and services in lieu of this bill.
Please find extensive documentation of abuses and complications of assisted suicide laws, and learn more about why DREDF regards legalizing assisted suicide as a dangerous mistake on our website at https://dredf.org/public-policy/assisted-suicide/. Your opposition to the End-of- Life Options Act is essential. Please do not hesitate to contact Carol Tyson at ctyson@dredf.org with any questions.
1 Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Patient Rights Action Fund. A Primer on Assisted Suicide Laws, pp 3, 6. Retrieved from https://dredf.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/a-primer-on- assisted-suicide-laws.pdf.
2 Dr. Dugdale, L.S. (January 23, 2017). “Will Black Lives Matter to Death with Dignity Act?” The Hill. Retrieved from https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/healthcare/315731-will-black-lives-matter-to-death- with-dignity-act.