…s the Supreme Court stated in Glucksberg, a state’s interest in preserving human life “is symbolic and aspirational as well as practical” (521 US at 729), favorably quoting the New York State Task Force, which observed: “‘While suicide is no longer prohibited or penalized, the ban against assisted suicide and euthanasia shores up the notion of limits in human relationships. It reflects the gravity with which we view the decision to take one’s own…
…d unity is essential to our cause. ADAPT’s Open Letter to President-Elect Trump President-Elect Trump, The Disability Community is a diverse community made up of people from different races, faiths, political beliefs, and backgrounds. Our community is the only inevitable minority: if a person lives long enough, they will eventually become disabled. Therefore, our interests are not partisan, but human; not political, but practical. We want all peop…
…nt, which reads as follows: [While acknowledging the central importance to human dignity of personal autonomy, the Committee considers that States parties should recognize that individuals planning or attempting to commit suicide may be doing so because they are undergoing a momentary crisis which may affect their ability to make irreversible decisions, such as to terminate their life. Therefore,] States should take adequate measures, without viol…
…, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a federal constitutional right to assisted suicide does NOT exist[i], but noted that individual states might be able to experiment with laws pertaining to the practice. Since then, five of the 50 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the practice by statute, beginning with Oregon in 1997 by ballot referendum. In addition, the high court in the state…
…a lethal prescription in Oregon were physically unable to take the lethal drugs without assistance. That means that another person administered the drugs: there is no way to prevent an attendant or a family member from doing this when a lethal prescription is in the house of a person with a disability. Advocates for assisted suicide point to the fact that many people keep the lethal prescription in their home but never take it, wishing only to fee…
