…to assist their breathing when sleeping. Here’s where I ask one of my rude questions: Is the word apnea being avoided because people don’t associate it with “dying,” but recognize the term as covering a variety of treatable conditions? And what about Joubert syndrome? Is it described as a terminal condition? I didn’t know, so I checked. I checked Wikipedia, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the Joubert Syndrome F…
Oregon Assisted Suicide Data Analysis March 16, 2023 How Assisted Suicide Laws Endanger People With Disabilities and Chronic Conditions A disabled or chronically ill person who depends on life-sustaining treatment, even basic medications, would be able to qualify for assisted suicide if they lived where assisted suicide is legal. Oregon’s “Death With Dignity” law is the model for all U.S. states. As an Oregon official has clarified in writing, an…
…tly works for Austin Community College as a Student Accessibility Services Specialist in Austin, Texas. When she is not at the office or leading NMD United, Emily spends her free time updating her various personal disability-themed blogs (www.cripbitch.com, www.cripnovella.com, and www.urinationchronicles.com) and converting her home, which she shares with her boyfriend and two dogs, into a Smart(er) Home that will someday be able to take over all…
…this reason, there is no way to argue around the reality that assisted suicide laws give government-sanctioned approval to discrimination on the basis of disability within health care. If this were any other protected class other than disability – race or gender, for example – would anyone have even a moment’s hesitation in decrying the legislation as discriminatory? What disabled people see in legalizing assisted suicide is that some people ge…
…s in Oregon have been white, in a state 78% white, 22% nonwhite. The Pew Research Center found earlier this year that, while nationally whites support assisted suicide 53%-44%, black and Latino voters register 65% opposition. I am sure you are finding the same trends in New Mexico. We have a public health problem, but it isn’t certain people’s lack of dignity. It’s the turn by a powerful social class to assisted suicide as a societal solution. All…
