The Song That Is Sung at Final Exit Network Meetings (Or Should Be)

January 26, 2010final exit network, humor, Our News & Commentary Blog, satireStephen Drake

…l & Morphine Sue– Get out the way. Here comes Helium Hugh. Helium [inhale]…runnin’ round my brain. A ten buck bottle on the street Gets you about a hundred fifty cubic feet Of helium…running round my brain. I’m all through with blow and boo, Bourbon, cigarettes and airplane glue. I no longer waste my breath Crying “Give me Librium or Give me Meth.” Breathe it in/ Up ya go. Nice and slow/ When you’re done And down ya come/ Cause helium Is really um…

Second Thoughts” Abound at Assisted Suicide Hearing – Part 2

December 31, 2013Our News & Commentary BlogDiane Coleman

…f their suffering—well, I’m also suffering, and I’d rather die than live.” Ruthie Poole, President of the Board of MPOWER, a statewide membership organization made up of people with lived experience of mental health diagnoses, spoke to the limitations of personal autonomy in the presence of severe depression. Ruthie said: Absolute hopelessness and seeing no way out are common feelings for those of us who have experienced severe depression. Persona…

LA Times and ProPublica: Dozens of Calif. Nurses with Felony Convictions Fully Licensed to Practice

October 6, 2008california, media coverage, Oregon, Our News & Commentary Blog, professional accountabilityStephen Drake

…example, many medical professionals participated in the alleged attempt to rush Ruben Navarro’s death in a botched organ harvesting attempt. One transplant physician was the subject of criminal charges, but the other nurses and doctors in the room were exonerated by their respective review boards. In Oregon, after a series of embarrassing investigative articles, a governor’s inquiry led to the resignation of the top two members of the Nursing Revi…

Disabled Feminists Issue Statement: on Robert Edwards, Virginia Ironside and Unnecessary Opposition of Rights

October 22, 2010clair lewis, disability activists, disability rights, eugenics, feminism, Laura Hershey, Our News & Commentary Blog, UKStephen Drake

…vey the message that reducing the number of disabled infants born into the world is a laudable outcome of the increasing use of prenatal screening techniques. NDY keeps these issues separate – we have our hands full with threats to the lives of people with disabilities after we’re born. Once in awhile, some story or article ties the two issues together, and we get a lot of pointers to the item, with suggestions we say or do something about it. One…

Farewell to Alison Davis – Ally and Activist (1955-2013)

December 6, 2013Alison Davis, assisted suicide, euthanasia, in memorium, Our News & Commentary BlogAlison Davis, assisted suicide, euthanasiaStephen Drake

…luntary Euthanasia Society have always protested that under their proposed rules my request for euthanasia would have been denied because they claim I was “depressed.” Apart from the breathtaking arrogance of presuming to know my state of mind at a time when they did not even know I existed, the truth is that the supposedly “strict safeguards” to a euthanasia law that the VES promotes, do not even mention depression as a disqualifying factor. In f…