Category Archives: United Spinal Assn.

Ally Matt Vallière’s Op-Ed in The Hill Reflects on 2023 Victories Against Assisted Suicide

The Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF), led by Matt Vallière, coordinates diverse coalitions of advocates against assisted suicide laws. Matt and his expert team have respected and supported a strong disability role in these state coalitions from early on. They have also been crucial to taking into federal court my longstanding assertion that assisted suicide … Continue reading Ally Matt Vallière’s Op-Ed in The Hill Reflects on 2023 Victories Against Assisted Suicide

NDY, DREDF and United Spinal Discuss Shavelson Euthanasia Case at Press Briefing

Disability advocacy organizations NDY, DREDF and United Spinal partnered with the Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF) to hold a press briefing on the Shavelson v. CA Department of Health Care Services case heard on April 14 in the federal District Court of Northern California. Video of the press briefing is available on PRAF’s Facebook page … Continue reading NDY, DREDF and United Spinal Discuss Shavelson Euthanasia Case at Press Briefing

More Disability Testimonies Opposing Massachusetts Assisted Suicide Bill

On October 1, 2021, the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health held a hearing on An Act relative to end of life options (H. 2381 and S. 1384). We previously featured testimonies this bill to legalize assisted suicide by John B. Kelly, Director of Second Thoughts MA: Disability Rights Advocates against Assisted Suicide and Lindsay … Continue reading More Disability Testimonies Opposing Massachusetts Assisted Suicide Bill

NDY, DREDF, Disability & Patient Rights Groups Oppose Lawsuit To Expand Assisted Suicide Law

For Immediate Release: September 2, 2021 Disability, Patients’ Rights Groups Issue Joint Statement Opposing the Expansion of Assisted Suicide in Observance of Suicide Prevention Month Berkeley, California – In observance of Suicide Prevention Month this September, disability and patients’ rights leaders from California and across the United States joined together in solidarity to voice clear, … Continue reading NDY, DREDF, Disability & Patient Rights Groups Oppose Lawsuit To Expand Assisted Suicide Law

United Spinal Assn. Helped Fight A Futility Judgment And Won!

The hospital may not have called it a “futility judgment” when they pushed Chris Dunn to go into hospice as an alternative to spinal cord injury rehabilitation, but it’s hard to see it any other way. Here’s an extended excerpt from United Spinal Association’s New Mobility article “Refusing To Die: The Chris Dunn Story“: By … Continue reading United Spinal Assn. Helped Fight A Futility Judgment And Won!