On November 2, Newsweek published an excellent op-ed by Matt Valliere, Executive Director of the Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF), entitled The Brutal, Tragic, Consequences of Quality of Life Judgements. Though PRAF’s mission is focused on opposing assisted suicide laws, the op-ed does an uncommonly good job discussing other discriminatory and harmful medical practices that […]
Massachusetts Public Health Committee hearing on the state’s assisted suicide bill: John B. Kelly Oral Testimony against EOLA H.2381/S.1384 October 1, 2021 Thank you. Everyone knows that doctors make mistakes, and studies show that 12 to 15 percent of people outlive the six-month hospice benefit for supposedly terminal people. But this year Oregon revealed that […]
As we have been covering since spring, see here, here, click here and here, disability rights advocates around the country, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand held protests against the movie “Me Before You” for its hateful message that some disabled people are better off dead. John shares the same disability as the fictional Will in […]
Two video projects led by people with disabilities, one in the U.S. and one in Canada, are challenging the mainstream message that it’s better to be dead than disabled. We all know that personal stories are often the most effective forms of communication, and that’s exactly what these projects offer in face-to-face communication. The U.S. […]
[Editor’s Note: Mea Culpa, we meant to post a blog on this as soon as we got the video captioned, and it’s been posted in our “In the News” section, but catching up belatedly here in the blog. . .] In this in-depth interview, Not Dead Yet’s New England regional director John Kelly critiques the […]
Contacts: Diane Coleman 708-420-0539 John Kelly 617-536-5140 For Immediate Release: “Me Before You” Protesters Call For PSA To Prevent Copycat Suicides Disability rights advocates who protested the film “Me Before You” in cities across the United States are calling on Warner Brothers to add a public service announcement to further releases of the film to […]
During recent “Me Before You” discussions, some of us wondered if most fictional romances between disabled and nondisabled characters were always cut short. I started thinking about a story I read a long time ago. I don’t remember how old I was when I first read The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico. I’m pretty sure […]
There’s a brand new video created by Carrie Ann Lucas celebrating protests of the movie “Me Before You” by the disability community on three continents. Carrie is on the Board of Directors of NDY and one of the leaders of Colorado NDY. Here’s how she describes the video: The disability community responded to the disability […]
[Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of a Press Release issued by the Center for Disability Rights, NDY’s close partner in Rochester, NY.] The Center for Disability Rights has created a PSA to address disability and assisted suicide, one of the primary topics highlighted in the new romantic comedy, Me Before You. The film is […]
[Editor’s Note: This is a guest blog by Carol Cleigh Sutton, an original Board member of NDY when we formed in 1996, and a long time disability activist.] I’ve spent some time thinking about why movies like Me Before You get made. After all, it’s not a bit original. From Whose Life is it, Anyway? […]
