Press Release: Disability Opposition to Assisted Suicide Bills Helped Secure Third Defeat In New England States This Session

March 31, 2014assisted suicide, Our News & Commentary Blog, press releaseassisted suicide, press releaseDiane Coleman

…Hampshire overwhelmingly rejected an assisted suicide bill by a vote of 219-66. “It’s a clean sweep,” said John Kelly, New England regional director for Not Dead Yet and director of Second Thoughts Massachusetts. “Throughout New England, assisted suicide proponents simply had no answers to the arguments raised by disability rights advocates. When public health committee members heard from us how discriminatory and dangerous assisted suicide is, th…

NDY quoted in article on New Mexico assisted suicide case

July 17, 2012aid in dying, assisted suicide, Compassion & Choices, Connecticut, court decisions, diane coleman, Montana, New Mexico, Our News & Commentary BlogDiane Coleman

…ded by the Montana Supreme Court in 2009. According to the article, “In a 5-to-2 ruling, the Montana court said that physician aid in dying was protected under the law providing for living wills.” More accurately and narrowly, the court held that the patient’s consent to assisted suicide would constitute a defense that a physician could raise if they were charged with homicide. (Baxter v.Montana at page 25 – available at the Court’s website.) A co…

Dialogue Begins About Feeding Tubes and Breathing Devices With Respecting Choices Program

April 1, 2014Our News & Commentary BlogDiane Coleman

…osted your letter on our website. We are gratified that you have suspended online sales of these two documents, pending the results of our efforts, but we’re disappointed that you haven’t issued a “recall” of the documents. We understand that you consider the documents to be fine if used as intended, but we consider some of the information to be factually incorrect no matter how the documents are used. We have also been made aware of a “Dear Colle…

ADAPT Wins Meeting with Leadership Conference on Civil Rights to Address Disconnect Between Disability Rights and Broader Civil Rights Movement

May 6, 2014ADAPT, Our News & Commentary BlogADAPTDiane Coleman

…ities are provided suicide assistance.” The full release is not yet posted online, but came to ADAPT advocates via email. It’s public, so I’m sharing it with you below. ADAPT has long opposed legalization of assisted suicide. Pew researchers also found that people of color tend to oppose it, so there’s every reason to think that we can find common ground on this. But it probably came as a surprise to the Leadership Conference to see it brought up…

Would You Rather Die Than Go To A Nursing Facility? Time For the Community Integration Act!

July 1, 2014ADAPT, Community Integration Act, long term care, nursing homes, Our News & Commentary BlogADAPT, Community Integration ActDiane Coleman

…WHEN: Wednesday, June 25, 2014 On June 25, 2014 Senator Tom Harkin, a long-time disability rights champion, introduced the long-awaited Community Integration Act. This legislation, if passed, will codify in law the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead decision in which the court found that persons with disabilities have a right to live in least restrictive—community settings. Last year Senator Harking commissioned an important study that found that most…