Alex Thompson and Max Rodriguez from the NY Association on Independent Living and Center for Disability Rights, respectively, held a counter-presence with signs opposing the NY assisted suicide bill at a press conference conducted today by proponents of the bill. They spoke with several members of the press about the dangers the bill poses for people with disabilities (see written statement below).
The first coverage appeared on WXXI News:
Opponents, including some advocacy groups for people with disabilities, said they fear the measure could be abused.
Alex Thompson with the New York Association of Independent Living said people with disabilities are sometimes misdiagnosed by doctors. He said he worries that could lead some to take their own lives based on an inaccurate prognosis.
“One of the major issues is that it puts the lives of people with disabilities at risk,” Thompson said. “And a lot of the discussion around the issue kind of overlooks the impact on people with disabilities.”
The activists also distributed a Statement consisting of a letter to Senate and Assembly majority leaders. The following are excerpts of that message:
The bill is unacceptable for a wide range of reasons.
First, this bill would likely lead patients to take their own lives based upon inaccurate prognoses. The bill bases eligibility for assisted suicide on a physician’s prognosis that a given patient has no more than six months to live. However, studies show that physicians’ survival estimates for terminally-ill patients are often inaccurate. If assisted suicide were made legal in New York, a patient who received an overpessimistic prognosis might take his or her own life when he or she might otherwise have outlived that prognosis by a substantial period of time. This very real possibility should be unacceptable to all New Yorkers.
…Fifth, assisted suicide laws normalize assisted suicide as an acceptable response to disability. Persons with serious chronic or terminal illnesses often become disabled as their diseases progress. Health professionals and others may incorrectly perceive that those patients have less “quality of life” than healthier persons do. While the rest of society receives suicide prevention education and services from the state, this bill would direct suicide assistance toward certain disabled individuals. This double standard is a form of discrimination against persons with disabilities. Furthermore, an assisted suicide law could cause patients that need assistance with daily living to feel pressured physically, emotionally, and financially to choose suicide.
To read the whole Statement, go HERE.
