Category Archives: Our News & Commentary Blog

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Press Release: Second Thoughts Massachusetts to Testify against Assisted Suicide Bill H 1998

Our News & Commentary Blog

[Ed. Note:  For a PDF formatted version of this Press Release, and links to eight testimonies submitted by NDY Board member William Peace as well as members of Second Thoughts Massachusetts and Second Thoughts Connecticut, go here.] Disability rights activists from across the region will be speaking Tuesday before the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on … Continue reading Press Release: Second Thoughts Massachusetts to Testify against Assisted Suicide Bill H 1998 →

Barbara Mancini Case: Compassion & Choices Uses the Case as Opportunity to Launch “Legal Defense” Fundraising Drive

assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, media, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, Pennsylvania, ,

For those unfamiliar with the charges against Barbara Mancini regarding her role in the death of her father, please check our previous coverage here, here and here. The latest news on the case is that Mancini is still facing assisted suicide charges and awaiting a judge’s decision on a petition to dismiss the case. Beyond … Continue reading Barbara Mancini Case: Compassion & Choices Uses the Case as Opportunity to Launch “Legal Defense” Fundraising Drive →

Farewell to Alison Davis – Ally and Activist (1955-2013)

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(Editor’s note – I didn’t know Alison well. We met only once at a conference and corresponded a few times.  But I think she’s the only person I’ve met older than myself with lifelong treated hydrocephalus.  Alison had spina bifida, while I acquired hydrocephalus through other means.  She was a valued ally and a strong … Continue reading Farewell to Alison Davis – Ally and Activist (1955-2013) →

John Kelly Talks About the Tim Bowers Case

john kelly, life-ending decisions, national council on disability, ncd, Our News & Commentary Blog, quadriplegia, rush to judgment, spinal cord injury, suicide prevention, Tim Bowers, ventilator

On December 5, 2013, NDY’s John Kelly talked about the Tim Bowers case during public comments he provided by telephone to the National Council on Disability.  Bowers is the Indiana hunter who was injured in a fall and died the next day when he told doctors to stop life support.  John requested the Council’s help … Continue reading John Kelly Talks About the Tim Bowers Case →

John Kelly Quoted in NPR Thanksgiving Day Article on POLST

Institute of Medicine, john kelly, life-sustaining treatment, Massachusetts, media coverage, MOLST, Nancy Shute, National POLST Paradigm Task Force, NPR, Our News & Commentary Blog, POLST, Susan Tolle

As regular readers of the NDY blog know, the disability community has concerns about Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST).  (For NDY’s overall take on the subject, go here, and for NDY’s summary policy paper on POLST, go here.) For one thing, even though it says “for” life-sustaining treatment, it would be more accurate to say “on” … Continue reading John Kelly Quoted in NPR Thanksgiving Day Article on POLST →