NDY Protests the World Federation Conference – From My Vantage Point

…hout the 3-day action. Elaine also shared her collection of percussion instruments for many to use as our voices became over extended from chanting messages like “Help to Live, Not to Die” and “Final Exit: Stop the Lies.” We distributed four leaflets in English and Spanish. The area was high in foot traffic, so by the end of Day 1, we had distributed almost 2000 and had to make more for Day 2 and 3 and, having underestimated again (trying to be fr…

Why is there so much suicide promotion during National Suicide Prevention Week?

…. The week has, from my somewhat skewed vantage, been dominated by suicide news – but not by news dealing with prevention. For example, yesterday Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley certified an initiative petition for the “Death with Dignity Act” (aka “make assisted suicide legal act”). We’ll write more about that later, but the certification allows the petitioners to gather signatures; if successful in meeting the quota, the initiative…

Sad news – writer/speaker/lawyer/activist Harriet McBryde Johnson has passed away

…ial justice and became one of the most important voices to the nondisabled world from inside the disability rights movement. We’re all still in shock, but Not Dead Yet president and founder Diane Coleman wrote the following to some friends today when she heard the news: Dear friends, I just learned through another email list that Harriet McBryde Johnson passed away last night. This is a terrible shock. Harriet and I shared so much, spinal muscular…

More Men in the News – Killing Ailing Wives and Calling it “Mercy”

…lieves Yagi was trying to end his wife’s suffering. “When I saw it (on the news), I knew exactly what I was hearing,” he said. “We hear it all the time all over the world, rich people, poor people, people in pain, people suffering.” He said Hawaii came close in 2002 to passing a law to allow assisted suicide. The so-called Death with Dignity bill died when three state senators changed their votes at the last minute following intense lobbying by op…

Dorothy Livadas Scheduled to Die Today

…tegic. Anyone who is a political cable news junkie knows about the “Friday news dump.” News “dumped” on a Friday minimizes news coverage – news readership of papers is down, news stations aren’t staffed as well. By the time Monday comes, the news is stale and no longer news at all. Strong Hospital and the Catholic Family Center picked a perfect Friday for minimizing any attention being given to the death of Dorothy Livadas. The media is focussed o…