Disability Rights Advocates Cheer High Court
Constitutional Ruling Against Assisted Suicide
CONTACTS: John Kelly at mailto:SecondThoughtsKelly@Gmail.com 617-952-3302
Jules Good (mailto:JGood@NotDeadYet.org)
Boston, MA – Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Disability rights advocates from Second Thoughts MA and Not Dead Yet are cheering Monday’s decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), which ruled against plaintiff doctors Roger Kligler and Alan Steinbach in their lawsuit to declare assisted suicide a state constitutional right.
“This is a victory for disability rights,” said Second Thoughts director John B. Kelly. “Everyone who is terminally ill is already or will soon be disabled, and deserves the same level of suicide prevention services as everyone else.
“We appreciate the court’s reference to the amicus brief filed by the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and thank the state disability organizations who joined the brief (list on page 2).”
Not Dead Yet president Diane Coleman said, “Neither the U.S. Supreme Court nor any state high court has found a constitutional right to assisted suicide. The prohibition against assisted suicide protects the lives of all disabled people, including the terminally ill.”
Not Dead Yet Director of Minority Outreach Anita Cameron said, “Black people overwhelmingly oppose assisted suicide and don’t use it, and we don’t trust white elites with their newfound concern for how we die, when as the late comedian and activist Dick Gregory said, they never cared about how we live.”
Not Dead Yet Assistant Director Jules Good said, “As we have seen in Canada, granting assisted suicide and/or euthanasia as a fundamental right has resulted in the unnecessary deaths of disabled people who lack access to housing and proper healthcare. Through this decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has chosen to protect our most vulnerable neighbors and recognize the value of disabled lives.”
Second Thoughts member Ellen Leigh said, “I supported assisted suicide until I learned that it is all about disability – the top five reasons in Oregon involve depending on others, feeling like a burden, and shame – ‘loss of dignity.’ We all have inherent dignity and do not lose that when we become ill and disabled. Bringing ‘dignity’ into this only increases feelings of shame and burden for choosing to live.”
“We thank the court for its insistence that ‘physician-assisted suicide’ is the only correct and accurate phrase. Proponents and media alike should stop confusing people with pleasing euphemisms,” said Second Thoughts member Mary Makuc.
“Now let’s talk about fully funded home care so old, ill, and disabled people can live at home in the community, not feel like a burden on unpaid family members,” said Second Thoughts member Brian Shea.
Members of the two groups held an action on October 13 in front of the SJC to remind people that this matter belongs in the legislature, receiving coverage from Boston’s Neighborhood Network News, along with an interview with Not Dead Yet Assistant Director Jules Good.
Second Thoughts MA: Disability Rights Advocates Against Assisted Suicide organized in 2012 and helped defeat the 2012 Ballot Question 2 for the legalization of assisted suicide. The group has successfully lobbied against every assisted suicide bill since.
Not Dead Yet is the leading national disability organization opposing assisted suicide laws, futility judgments, and “better dead than disabled” policies. The group organized in 1996 to help stop Kevorkian, whose victims were overwhelmingly disabled and not terminal.
Disability Rights Organizations who Joined DREDF Amicus Brief:
National Organizations
•Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
• The Arc of the United States
• American Association of People with Disabilities
• Assn of Programs for Rural Independent Living
• Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network
• Disability Rights Legal Center
• National Council on Independent Living
• Not Dead Yet
• National Organization of Nurses with Disabilities • TASH
• United Spinal Association
• World Institute on Disability
Massachusetts State Organizations