Mary Makuc Letter: I feel the threat of ableism amid assisted suicide debate

Excellent letter in the Berkshire Eagle by Mary Makuc, member of Second Thoughts Massachusetts!

To the editor: For people with severe disabilities like me, assisted suicide is not just theoretical but a real social justice issue.

If law allowing for assisted suicide is passed in Massachusetts, many people could feel pressured to die. Because of ableism, disabled people are already seen by some as burdens, who might as well be dead. Recent research shows that more than 80 percent of surveyed doctors think disabled people have an inferior quality of life. There is not enough interest in getting adequate home supports for people who need them.

Suicide contagion is real. There is evidence that assisted suicide is associated with an increase in unassisted suicide, about 6 percent overall and 13 percent for women.

Canada has expanded eligibility for its “medical aid in dying” euthanasia program, from people diagnosed terminal to non-terminal disabled people, and next year to people with mental illness. Disabled people like former Paralympian Christine Gauthier are asking for supports, but Gauthier claims a Canadian government official offered her euthanasia. Her request? A wheelchair ramp for her house.

In the U.S., non-terminal disabled people with diabetes and anorexia nervosa are already dying under physician-assisted suicide laws in states like Oregon and Colorado. While proposed legislation in Massachusetts only applies to terminal patients, it’s possible for these proposals to have the conditions for eligibility altered before or after such a law would pass.

There are no safeguards to protect disabled people from ableism. Keep the law as it stands.

Mary Makuc, Monterey