From the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Blog:
(Note – the op-ed mentioned below is included at the end of the media advisory, instead of just linked as stated in test)
CCD Media Advisory: Suicide Celebration Instead of Suicide Prevention
23 April 2013, WINNIPEG, MBAccording to media reports, Susan Griffiths’ assisted suicide will likely occur on Thursday (25 April 2013) at a Dignitas Clinic in Switzerland. Members of the Canadian disability community, who oppose assisted suicide, are available to discuss their concerns about assisted suicide with the media on Wednesday (24 April 2013) and Thursday (25 April 2013). Their contact information is listed below.Attached you will find “Suicide Celebration Instead of Suicide Prevention”, an Op-Ed article by Amy Hasbrouck of Toujours Vivant – Not Dead Yet Canada, a project of CCD. In her article, Hasbrouck questions why Griffiths has not been offered suicide prevention support. The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) is a national organization of people with disabilities working for an accessible and inclusive Canada.-30-The following are available to discuss the Susan Griffiths case:Amy Hasbrouck, Toujours Vivant – Not Dead Yet (Canada), Tel.: 450-921-3057, Email: tigrlily61@gmail.com (Available for interviews in French and English.)Laurie Beachell, CCD National Coordinator, Tel.: 204-947-0303, Email: laurie@ccdonline.caDean Richert, Co-chair CCD Ending of Life Ethics Committee, Tel.: (204) 989-2775, Email: drichert@odgb.mb.caDr. Nancy Hansen, PhD, Director, Interdisciplinary Master’s Program, University of Manitoba, Tel.: 204-474-6458, Email: Nancy.Hansen@ad.umanitoba.caRuth Enns, Author, Tel.: 204-831-7952, Email: ruthenns@mymts.netClare Simpson, Tel.: 204-947-0303, Email: clare@ccdonline.caColleen Watters, Chairperson, MLPD Ethics Committee, Tel.:204-945-5304, Email: cpwatters@shaw.ca
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Suicide Celebration Instead Of Suicide Prevention
By Amy Hasbrouckof Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet:A Project of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD)
Amy Hasbrouck with John Kelly Sue Griffiths of Winnipeg, MB is the latest person to publicize her desire for assisted suicide, and to have her efforts celebrated by the press.Last week, her plea for parliament to re-open the assisted suicide question was widely reported as she prepared to go to Dignitas, a clinic in Switzerland that helps people kill themselves.Ms. Griffiths has Multiple Systems Atrophy, a degenerative neurological condition which causes pain in about half the people who have it. Photos show her standing, walking and using her hands; she is certainly not a person who is “physically unable to commit suicide without help.” She is described as a person who is in charge of her life, but she apparently wants to have someone else take charge of her death.The reasons she gives for wanting to kill herself are related to disability, needing help with personal care and other daily activities, having to use adaptive equipment, losing independence. The subtext is that, as a person with a disability, she believes she will be less worthy, less dignified, less than fully human.In point of fact, disability is NOT a fate worse than death. When people become disabled, they must grieve the loss of abilities they had, just as a parent might grieve the loss of a child, or one grieves the loss of one’s home after a natural disaster. But no one would suggest it’s a good idea for the bereaved parent or survivor of a natural disaster to commit suicide, much less that she/he be helped to die.We have a policy to prevent suicides, and rightfully so. We apply this policy to people whose despair arises from social as well as psychological stresses; bullied adolescents, LGBT people who’ve been persecuted, Aboriginal people struggling with poverty and loss of cultural heritage, and survivors of domestic violence. People with disabilities who lack services and supports to live in their homes and be integrated in their communities face the same discrimination and social stressors. Suicide prevention policies and services should be applied equally to disabled and non-disabled people, without bias or prejudice about the quality of life with a disability. And society must begin to address the underlying discrimination and stigma that create the conditions in which people with disabilities live.We should really be asking: Why is no one trying to stop Susan Griffiths from committing suicide? Does the media orgy around Griffiths story mean that we believe the everyday realities of living with a disability are reason enough to get help to die? And should the media rise to the bait every time a person with a disability flaunts their suicide in the public square.
I feel that this article has missed the point entirely. You can’t presume to know what Susan was going through just as people shouldn’t presume to know what its like to live with a disability. I believe that letting someone who is sick and dying choose when they pass is completely different than what you suggest in this article. I think you are using something that will be sensationalized in the media to try and bring attention to the issues that are faced by people with disabilities. Shame on you for using the death of soneone you don’t know to promote your unrelated issues. It seems to me you are the one doing he ‘celebrating’.
To Kelly,
Believe me, the author of the op-ed, Council of Canadians with Disabilities – and NDY – all get the point.
Susan Griffith wasn’t sensationalized in the media – she *demanded* to be sensationalized by the media and to use that sensationalism so her voice and her supporters could ride roughshod over the voices of disabled opponents of assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Griffith wanted her death and her story to be central to the debate – neither she – nor you – gets to say who can “talk back” or define what response is out of line.
I saw a story on the CBC website about Susan Griffiths daughter
being upset at having to “say goodbye” to her mother, who she
was accompanying to Switzerland for the killing. It was super
propaganda for “assisted suicide” and I was not able to post a comment of protest, nor email it; the website ignored my attempts. I hope it was just a technical glitch. I wanted to send it to Stephen Drake, but the email was off also.