Connecticut: Affidavit of James D. McGaughey in Motion to Intervene in Assisted Suicide Suit

April 13, 2010advocacy, Connecticut, devaluation, discrimination, life-ending decisions, litigation, medical decisionmaking, Our News & Commentary Blog, protection and advocacy, reality checkStephen Drake

…ting physicians from criminal liability if they prescribe lethal doses of drugs will increase the risk of doctor assisted suicide amongst people with disabilities who may have years of life ahead of them. I further believe that de-criminalizing physician assisted suicide will foster perceptions that living with a significant disability involves suffering and inherently poor quality of life, and that removing the current legal proscription will ser…

HBO Is Making Sure We Don’t Know Jack About Jack Kevorkian

April 22, 2010assisted suicide, Homicide / 'Mercy Killing', Kevorkian, media coverage, media issues, Our News & Commentary Blog, reality checkStephen Drake

…regret at having stood by helplessly as his mother endured a prolonged, excruciating death. Well, that’s a good story, but it may be just a story. And it’s a far cry from the whole story. What the film apparently avoids recounting is this: Kevorkian spent a couple of decades obsessed with the establishment of a medical specialty labeled “obitiatry” – a specialty involving causing the controlled deaths of individuals and exploiting the situation as…

UK: Disability Campaigners Press For Law Enforcement on Assisted Suicides

January 9, 2009advocacy, assisted suicide, crime and punishment, Our News & Commentary Blog, United KingdomStephen Drake

…him. Jane Campbell, chair of the disability committee at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, believes the case sends out a dangerous signal. She says that while it may seem like a personal matter the drip, drip effect of letting such cases go has big implications for society. “While I completely understand the family have to live with the consequences of their actions, [the Crown Prosecution Service] has got to start prosecuting otherwise i…

Radio Netherlands “Living and dying with dignity” includes NDY interview

November 14, 2008assisted suicide, euthanasia, media coverage, Netherlands, Our News & Commentary Blog, Washington stateStephen Drake

…mplicitly discriminating against that group and undermining their value as human beings. As he sees it, “euthanasia and assisted suicide gives society a great way to divest itself of people that they see as a burden while patting themselves on the back as being compassionate and noble”. There is a button that links you to the audio of the show in the URL linked above. (Looks like it uses Windows mediaplayer, at least on my system) But you can also…

Followup on Betancourt v. Trinitas – Reports, Coverage and More

April 28, 2010betancourt v. trinitas, bioethics, court decisions, drawing a line, futility, litigation, new jersey, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

…ndignity.” Jackie Betancourt, the daughter and surrogate decisionmaker for Ruben Betancourt, who was the patient that was at the center of this court case, left a comment in response to yesterday’s blog. I’m reproducing it here: I am the daughter of Ruben Betancourt, i went to court today & stood at the door with my mother, listening, i just want to say “thank you” from the bottom of my heart!!! My father was a fighter…& he would be very proud!!!!…