I meant to get this all up a little earlier, but life and exhaustion interfered a little with those plans. Below are links to coverage and commentary I recommend highly regarding the Stephen Hawking/assisted suicide kerfuffle:
On Wednesday, September 18th, I participated in a 10-minute live exchange with Barbara Coombs Lee of Compassion and Choices. The show was Consider This which airs on weekday nights at 10 to 11 pm ET on Al Jazeera America. While we covered a fair amount of territory regarding Stephen Hawking and assisted suicide laws, the available video is limited to a discussion of Barbara Mancini, who is facing assisted suicide charges in Pennsylvania, arguably the least interesting (to me, anyway) part of the show. You can view the excerpt at “Should family members face criminal charges?”
Earlier this week, I referenced a 2002 article in the Chicago Reader written by media critic and journalist Mike Miner about some issues Not Dead Yet took on in the Chicago area that year. Miner was motivated to revisit that same piece and to attempt to pick through the messy issues presenting themselves over the last week regarding Stephen Hawking and my own reaction on the blog to his endorsement of legalization of assisted suicide. He starts with some kind words about me in “When to pull the plug – or should we ever?”
Two friends in the disability community have written blog posts reacting to the Stephen Hawking announcement. They are both distinctly different from the reaction posted here. Both are thoughtful, well-written and – I hope this is clear – worth your time to read.
NDY board member, anthropologist, academic and activist Bill Peace writes about Stephen Hawking’s unusual status – one of extreme privilege and serious disability – and how it might affect his perspective in “Stephen Hawking on Assisted Suicide.”
Gary Presley is, in his own words, an “essayist, book reviewer, and author of Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio.” Gary reflects on pain, logic, and spirituality in “A Logical Death.”