Coleman Op-Ed: Why disability rights advocates oppose assisted suicide

May 15, 2015assisted suicide, disability history, discrimination, dredf, elder abuse, Kevorkian, Larry McAfee, medical discrimination, national council on independent living, op-ed, Our News & Commentary Blogassisted suicide, Dredf, medical discriminationDiane Coleman

…ll the plug.” The doctors, courts, media and public all viewed these severely disabled individuals as the equivalent of terminally ill. They did not get suicide prevention equal to that offered nondisabled people, nor the right to live in real homes instead of facilities, but courts uniformly granted them a “right to die.” Then the 1990s brought Dr. Jack Kevorkian, conducting assisted suicides using lethal drugs, with two thirds of his body count…

NDY Staff Raise Disability and Minority Community Issues in Boston Training

May 8, 2017"death with dignity", aid in dying, Anita Cameron, assisted suicide, john kelly, Massachusetts, Our News & Commentary Blog, Patients Rights Action FundAnita Cameron, assisted suicide, John Kelly, Massachusetts, Patients Rights Action FundDiane Coleman

…nger of being coerced into assisted suicide because our lives are more likely to be devalued, especially if we are living in poverty and denied quality healthcare and palliative care. Although there are difficulties in organizing because of perceptions, people of color must reach out to our states’ Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian caucuses and members of the legislature to talk about the dangers of doctor assisted suicide to our communities…

Lisa Blumberg: What Principles Should Govern Charlie Gard’s Case?

July 26, 2017bioethics, court cases, ethics, futility, Health care decision-making, Lisa Blumberg, Our News & Commentary Blog, Peter Singer, surrogate decision making, treatment withdrawal, United Kingdombioethics, Health care decision making, Lisa BlumbergDiane Coleman

…d does not acknowledge other perspectives. He hews to the formula – no likely benefit + likely harm = no treatment – without recognition that various ethicists have defined the terms benefit, harm and treatment in hugely different ways. Then at the end of the piece, he conflates medical ethical theory with ethical standards and talks about “enforcing” them. Have ethicists been elevated to an unelected, shadow legislature? Can medical ethics theory…

Pennsylvania: Another Reporter Takes a Deeper Look at Elderly Homicide-Suicides

May 1, 2012media coverage, mercy killing, Our News & Commentary Blog, Pennsylvania, research, suicide-homicideStephen Drake

…“You have two deaths … Most of the time the victim is not in on the plan.” Stephen Drake, a spokesman for Not Dead Yet, a nonprofit group that opposes assisted suicide laws, also expressed concern over how murder-suicides among the elderly are viewed. “These are acts usually of desperation, not compassion,” he said. “These are people who are feeling depressed or overwhelmed. It’s often a consequence of an emotional crisis.” Please read the rest of…

NDY Board Member Mike Volkman Writes About Assisted Suicide and “Dignity” in Albany Times Union

November 29, 2017assisted suicide, Mike Volkman, New York State, op-ed, Our News & Commentary Blogassisted suicide, dignity, Mike Volkman, op-edStephen Drake

…ks apart the complicated relationship between assisted suicide and the mostly-undefined concept of “dignity.” Below is an an excerpt from “Death with dignity devalues disability.” What does it mean to die with dignity? Or the opposite, what is death without dignity or with indignity? There is no legal definition. It is a phrase people like to use with the hope that it is sufficient and accepted. Remember the bit George Carlin did in 1992 about eup…