There’s talk of legislative action on an assisted suicide bill in Connecticut, and it’s being discussed in the newspapers. Both John Kelly, Director of Second Thoughts, and Diane Coleman, President, CEO and founder of Not Dead Yet submitted letters that were published recently in the Hartford Courant:
Disability Activists Oppose Assisted Suicide Bill
Diane Coleman, Rochester, N.Y.
Not Dead Yet
on 2013-01-14Though writer Peter Wolfgang notes the potential impact of legalizing assisted suicide on the sick, elderly and disabled, this is the only mention of disability in the dueling op-eds by Wolfgang and Ilene Kaplan on Jan. 13 [Opinion, “Final Prescription: Whose Decision Is It?”].
Pro or con, both ignore the voices of disability rights activists, whom many credit with tipping the balance in the recent defeat of the assisted suicide ballot initiative in Massachusetts.
Hoping to leverage success via the culture war, proponents of legalized assisted suicide have long claimed that it’s all about compassionate progressives ves. the religious right. But they haven’t been able to silence progressive physicians, and they haven’t been able to silence organizations such as the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, ADAPT, National Council on Independent Living and Not Dead Yet, all of which oppose legalization of assisted suicide.
If there’s going to be a public debate, disability groups belong at the table, and people should learn why they oppose it.
Not Just Religious Against Assisted Suicide
John B. Kelly, Boston
on 2013-01-15In Ilene Kaplan’s call for the legalization of assisted suicide in Connecticut, “Dignity, Control As Life Ends” [Jan. 13, Opinion], she trots out the facile terms of the “culture wars.”
She would have readers believe that progressive defenders of personal freedom and choice face opposition only from a meddlesome religious right. But when Massachusetts voters rejected legalization in November, it was because a broad coalition of medical professionals, the disability community and liberals exposed the shoddy science and lack of compassion behind the bill.
It is impossible to build a social policy upon mere guesswork, which is how doctors characterize a terminal diagnosis. Many people are themselves or know longtime survivors of a doctor’s wrong prediction. The late Senator Ted Kennedy’s wife, Victoria, wrote that Teddy was given two to four months to live, but enjoyed “15 more productive months.”
Obamacare architect Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel warned of the likely abuse of “the poor, poorly educated, dying patients who pose a burden to their relatives.” Connecticut should instead ensure that everyone receives social supports, good home care, and all the comfort care currently available.