Not Dead Yet (NDY) writes to express our strong opposition to the lawsuit Texas v. Kennedy and its goals. Texas and nine other states (Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, and South Dakota) have decided to spend taxpayer dollars undermining people with disabilities’ right to community living. Members of the independent living movement founded […]
To the best of my knowledge, one of the last tasks Founder, President and CEO of Not Dead Yet (NDY), Diane Coleman completed, days before her sudden passing last November, was to watch Reid Davenport’s Life After. Diane intended to write a fulsome review. And although she could not publish her thoughts in […]
The Times Weekly published this opinion letter by Illinois disability advocate Pam Heavens on October 2nd: The Illinois General Assembly is considering a bill that will legalize physician-assisted suicide. I am a 68-year-old Disabled woman and proud member of “Stop Assisted Suicide Illinois Coalition”, which vehemently opposes this bill. This organization includes representatives from diverse […]
Introduction Assisted suicide is often presented as a compassionate choice for those experiencing unbearable suffering. However, as someone who has navigated life’s challenges as a disability rights advocate and someone who was once confined to a nursing home, I see a troubling oversight in this narrative. It fails to consider the systemic barriers that prevent […]
Two weeks ago I went to the ER in extreme pain. Normally, I live with level ten pain. I’ve gotten used to it. In a flare, I’ve learned not to moan or cry out. But this pain, which started out as a small annoyance, spread and went down my spine, then, into my chest and […]
By Lisa Blumberg, JD In 2014, in connection with whether assisted suicide laws would ever be expanded to include people with cognitive decline, Barbara Coombs Lee, then director of Compassion & Choices, said, “It is an issue for another day but is no less compelling.” This was a momentary slip. The political strategy of Compassion […]
By Lisa Blumberg, JD In late 2023, the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), designated people with disabilities as a population with health disparities for research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This means that NIMHD now recognizes that people with disabilities as a group experience significant disparities in their rates of […]
A 2007 Not Dead Yet blog described “rush to judgment” cases where people who had sustained a major brain injury were denied life sustaining treatment before appropriate time had passed to determine if they could become conscious. It referred to an article co-authored by Dr. Joel Frader, now a member of the Northwestern Center […]
Not Dead Yet Comment on HPNA’s Statement on “Medical Aid in Dying” July 5, 2024 Not Dead Yet is a national disability rights organization focused on combatting disability based healthcare discrimination, particularly in the context of advanced or terminal illness. We are extremely disappointed that HPNA [Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association] would consider adopting a […]
The updating of the 504 Regulations by the Department of Health and Human Services under the Biden-Harris administration is historic. Various provisions included in the amendment interact and work together to promote equal access to healthcare for persons with disabilities. Not Dead Yet’s response to the Department’s request for public comment when the updates were […]
