…say that 77% of Massachusetts residents support the bill, based on a poll question seeking compassion for terminally ill people “to end their suffering,” with its implication of physical pain. State House Speaker Ron Mariano declared “We have a very divided House of Representatives. There’s not a 77 percent affirmative vote in the House right now.” With the end of the legislative session on July 31, the bill died. Disability rights advocates appr…
…are Committee sets aside a portion of its meeting agenda to receive public comments. At the Committee’s second public meeting, held at Stanford on May 29, DREDF’s Marilyn Golden attended to provide public comments. Not Dead Yet previously submitted written input concerning the composition of the Committee, particularly the lack of disability representation. We didn’t receive a response to that submission, nor did the composition of the Committee c…
…given that it involves the irreversible use of a lethal prescription. The Commonwealth put forward expert testimony that while doctors may be able to accurately predict death within two or three weeks of its occurrence, predictions of death beyond that time frame are likely to be inaccurate. As just one example of getting it wrong, Jeanette Hall’s 2011 letter to the Boston Globe detailed her terminal diagnosis, request for assisted suicide, and f…
…ctor, and Ms. Cheney soon used the lethal prescription, and died. It’s become common knowledge in Oregon that if your doctor says no, call the main organization that supports assisted suicide – today it’s called “Compassion & Choices” but it used to be known, before various mergers and splits, as the Hemlock Society, and they will refer you to assisted-suicide-friendly doctors. They have been involved in, somewhere between 75% and 90% of Oregon’…
…ical treatments such as organ transplants becoming a political issue, now is not the time for this law. 1.https://dredf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/A-Deadly-Model-Suicide-Contagion.pdf 2.http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/09/portland_suicides_almost_three.html 3.http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/742070_3…
