All posts by Stephen Drake

RELEASE: Massachusetts Disability Rights Activists to Testify Against Assisted Suicide Initiative

assisted suicide, disability activists, disability rights, john kelly, karen schneiderman, legislation, Massachusetts, Our News & Commentary Blog, Second Thoughts

SECOND THOUGHTS People with Disabilities Opposing the Legalization of Assisted Suicide FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  March 6, 2012 CONTACTS John Kelly 617- 250-8918 Karen Schneiderman 617-338-6665, ext. 204   Disability Rights Group Second Thoughts to Testify against Assisted Suicide Initiative Disability rights activists from across Massachusetts will be speaking today before the Massachusetts legislature’s joint Judiciary … Continue reading RELEASE: Massachusetts Disability Rights Activists to Testify Against Assisted Suicide Initiative →

Maryland: Using a “PVS” Diagnosis to justify Organ Harvesting Without Consent

Maryland, Maryland Disability Law Center, national catholic partnership on disability, National Catholics Bioethics Center, organ donation, organ transplants, Our News & Commentary Blog, Stephen Mikochik, vegetative state

Today ( Feb. 21, 2012) in the Maryland legislature, the House Health and Government Operations Committee held a hearing on HB 449, a bill to grant health care surrogates the power to donate “non-vital” organs (a kidney or lobe of a liver) of a person diagnosed to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). I … Continue reading Maryland: Using a “PVS” Diagnosis to justify Organ Harvesting Without Consent →

American Medical News Reports on Georgia Sup. Court Overturn of Asst. Suicide Law – Eleanor Smith quoted

assisted suicide, court decisions, Eleanor Smith, final exit network, legislation, Our News & Commentary Blog

The American Medical News has an article out today about the Georgia Supreme Court decision that ruled the state’s assisted suicide law unconstitutional. (We referred to the legislation as “half-assed.”)  The decision has the immediate effect of negating the charges against members of the Final Exit Network (FEN). The account is pretty straightforward and is … Continue reading American Medical News Reports on Georgia Sup. Court Overturn of Asst. Suicide Law – Eleanor Smith quoted →

The Death of Christina Symanski – John Kelly and Bill Peace on Media, Perspective, Wrong Questions and Ignored Issues

bill peace, Christina Symanski, dehydration, john kelly, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, quadriplegia, starvation, suicide, VSED

John Kelly is the Director of the recently-formed Second Thoughts, a Massachusetts-based group of disability rights advocates opposing the legalization of assisted suicide. The essay below refers mainly to an article on Christina Symanski that appeared in the Huffington Post, originally in the sites “Weird News” section.  Symanski was a young woman who starved and … Continue reading The Death of Christina Symanski – John Kelly and Bill Peace on Media, Perspective, Wrong Questions and Ignored Issues →

President/CEO of Center for Practical Bioethics Careless with Facts Comparing Final Exit Network to Kevorkian

assisted suicide, bioethics, Center for Practical Bioethics, final exit network, Georgia, John Carney, Kevorkian, lawrence egbert, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check

I’ll be the first to admit that there are some bioethicists that can and do write with intellectual honesty and engage in rigorous analysis.  However, those qualities are not required in order to gain respect in the field of bioethics.  I offer Jacob Appel and Peter Singer as Exhibits A and B. (Those appear to … Continue reading President/CEO of Center for Practical Bioethics Careless with Facts Comparing Final Exit Network to Kevorkian →