Vermont: VPR Debate on Proposed “Death With Dignity” Legislation

March 9, 2011"death with dignity", assisted suicide, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, vermontStephen Drake

…as something they supported”. (Fields) The legislation is currently in the Human Services Committee. House Speaker Shap Smith has said he will not bring the bill to the floor for a vote unless he’s sure it will pass. Sweaney says she believes that is likely to happen this session. I’m pleased to report that Ed Paquin is just one of many Vermont disability rights activists actively engaged in the coalition to oppose the latest incarnation of this l…

Assisted Suicide Is A Deadly Mix With Our Profit-Driven Healthcare System

March 23, 2014"death with dignity", assisted suicide, Connecticut, Deadly Mix, dredf, ira byock, life-sustaining treatment, Malpractice, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, storiesassisted suicide, Connecticut, Dredf, media coverageDiane Coleman

…sonal story of a friend of hers, Joan Cavanagh, identified as “a life-long human rights and anti-war activist.” The New Haven Register published her op-ed describing her experience fighting for her mother’s life: I had a painful and frightening time for many years trying to get my Mom life-sustaining treatment. The health care system had no use for her because she was old, suffering from dementia, and poor. . . . I had been her primary caregiver f…

Chicago NDY Visits Final Exit Network’s Annual Meeting

June 9, 2009activism, assisted suicide, crime and punishment, devaluation, discrimination, final exit network, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality checkStephen Drake

…tally competent adults in all fifty states are free to exercise their last human right — the right to a peaceful, dignified death. “Final Exit Network is the only organization in the United States that will support individuals who are not “terminally ill” – 6 months or less to live – to hasten their deaths. No other organization in the US makes this commitment,” said Goodwin. Please note – that statement says very clearly that they will help, anyo…

Request to remove life-support from 6-Month-Old in Texas Withdrawn for Now – Texas NDY

January 21, 2009abuse, crime and punishment, david coronado, futile care, haleigh poutre, Our News & Commentary Blog, Surrogate Decisions & Guardianship, texasStephen Drake

…t should. This is even milder language than that used by the Department of Human Services in Massachusetts to justify the removal of life-support from Haleigh Poutre, who was also apparently abused and written off as “virtually brain-dead.” As anyone familiar with the case knows, the accused abuser challenged the removal of life-support, delaying the action long enough so that by the time Poutre was “granted” the “right” to die with “dignity” she…

U.K.: Brignell Column on Disability and Assisted Suicide Misses Several Points

February 2, 2009assisted suicide, bioethics, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality check, suicide, Switzerland, United KingdomStephen Drake

…movingly: “Our son could not have been more loved… This was his right as a human being. Nobody but nobody should judge him or anyone else.” These two paragraphs buy into some of the biggest lies/myths perpetrated by the euthanasia movement and others who argue for a “right” for assistance in suicides for people with disabilities. The claim that “it is almost physically impossible for someone who is completely paralysed to die by suicide” is false….