Category: suicide prevention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:                                                                    Cathy Ludlum                         860-649-7110                               cathyludlum@cox.net Stephen Mendelsohn              860-827-8003 (best after 5:30)     smendelsohn5845@att.net Second Thoughts Connecticut Website:   https://sites.google.com/site/secondthoughtsconnecticut/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SecondThoughtsConnecticut Twitter:     https://twitter.com/2ndThoughtsCT Assisted Suicide Is Bad Medicine. How Can Legislators Represent Us If They Cannot Talk to Us? January 11, 2021 (Manchester, CT) – People with disabilities fear for their lives during the […]

On Wednesday, September 16, a public hearing was held by the Health Equity Task Force of the Massachusetts Public Health Committee. The legislative website stated that “[t]he virtual hearing is to receive testimony from the public on findings and recommendations that address health disparities for underserved or underrepresented populations during the COVID-19 pandemic, pursuant to […]

[Ed. Note: This guest column by Diane Coleman appeared in nj.com on October 26, 2018, and in the New Jersey Star Ledger print edition on October 29.] I have an advanced neuromuscular condition and must use breathing support with a mask 18 hours a day. As a severely disabled person who depends on life-sustaining treatment, I […]

On October 17, 2017, the American Association of Suicidology issued a statement announcing that physician assisted suicide is not “suicide”. The Executive Summary states: “The American Association of Suicidology recognizes that the practice of physician aid in dying, also called physician assisted suicide, Death with Dignity, and medical aid in dying, is distinct from the […]

Affirming the Importance to People with Disabilities of Access to Services, Real Choices, and Self-Determination September is suicide prevention month, and during its observance, we express our sincere sorrow that any human ever experiences a level of despair or hopelessness that results in a choice to end one’s own life. The concern of the disability, […]

From the Center for Disability Rights’ Director of Advocacy, Stephanie Woodward: The Live On Movement is a disability-led project for people with disabilities to see how worthwhile life is. Life can be hard sometimes, and this is even more true for people living with disabilities. Young people with disabilities face bullying, youth and adults with […]

[Thanks to John Kelly and Frankie Symonds for creating this video. Carrie is among those who received recognition from New Mobility for trying to save Jerika’s life.] Last July, news broke that Appleton, Wisconsin 14-year-old Jerika Bolen had decided to die because of the extreme pain she was in, pain attributed to her genetic condition, […]

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 […]

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 […]

[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 […]