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 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 […]
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 […]
As we in the Black community celebrate freedom, liberation, and life on Juneteenth, there is a movement afoot that will endanger the lives of the most vulnerable in our community. This dangerous movement is the push for legalization of assisted suicide, sometimes called medical assisted suicide, across the United States. Assisted suicide is when someone, […]
Last November, NDY filed a Public Comment on HHS/OCR Proposed Section 504 Healthcare Regulations. This week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the finalization of the new regulationprohibiting disability discrimination in healthcare under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. While the primary focus of our public comment was the denial of life-sustaining healthcare […]
April 15, 2024 To: California Senate Health and Judiciary Committees From: Diane Coleman, JD, President & CEO, Not Dead Yet Re: Letter Opposing Proposed SB 1196 Amendments to the End of Life Option Act This letter is filed on behalf of Not Dead Yet, a national disability organization headquartered in New York with members in […]
Today, Anita Cameron testified via online access to oppose Minnesota’s assisted suicide bill while John Kelly and Diane Coleman submitted written testimony to the MN House of Representatives Health Finance and Policy Committee. Below are excerpts from each and their names links to their full testimonies. Anita Cameron Research has documented Black, Asian, and Hispanic […]
Anita Cameron’s Remarks Before the New York State Bar Association Task Force on Medical Aid in Dying November 17, 2023 Good morning. I’m Anita Cameron, Director of Minority Outreach for Not Dead Yet, a national, grassroots disability organization opposed to medical discrimination, healthcare rationing, euthanasia and assisted suicide. Assisted suicide laws are dangerous because though […]
