Message from ASAN: Join in Disability Day of Mourning

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[Editor’s Note:  Not Dead Yet joins the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) and other disability organizations across the country in the Day of Mourning.  Below is a message from ASAN about this annual day of remembrance of lives lost.]

Today, March 1st, is the 2016 Disability Day of Mourning – a day for disability communities, organizations, and groups around the country to gather and cherish the memories of those who we have lost to senselessness violence at the hands of those they should have been able to trust most. We gather to recommit ourselves to continue to strive to seek justice for these crimes so as to prevent them from ever occurring again.

In the past five years, over one hundred and eighty people with disabilities have been murdered by their family members.

These acts are horrific enough on their own. But they exist in the context of a larger pattern. A parent kills their disabled child. The media portrays these murders as justifiable and inevitable due to the “burden” of having a disabled person in the family. If the parent stands trial, they are given sympathy and  comparatively lighter sentences, if they are sentenced at all. The victim is disregarded, blamed for their own murder at the hands of the person they should have been able to trust the most, and ultimately forgotten. And then the cycle repeats.

Today, we gather, and speak the names of those taken from us. But in doing so, we do not just mourn. We kindle new hope, of the possibility of a better world, one in which disabled Americans are recognized as equal and disabled blood is not viewed as cheap and easy to spill. We remember our own – and in doing so, strengthen the bonds that make among us a common community, a common identity. These bonds strengthen and enstrengthen each of us, opening up the door to happier days and commemorations ahead. Today, our shared sorrow and mourning make us one.

ASAN asks you to join us today in this year’s vigils to bring awareness to the ongoing tragedy, and to demand equal rights, protection and justice for all citizens.

Ari Ne’eman 
President 
Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Julia Bascom
Deputy Executive Director
Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Current vigil sites and contact information can be found on the ASAN website.

Colorado NDY Board Member Op-Eds Published; Hearings Underway

ADAPT, aid in dying, Anita Cameron, assisted suicide, Carrie Ann Lucas, Colorado, op-ed, Our News & Commentary Blog, ,

Carrie Ann Lucas and Anita Cameron have just had excellent commentaries opposing assisted suicide bills published in Colorado.

Carrie Ann’s op-ed, Legalizing assisted suicide in Colorado would threaten disabled, appeared in the Denver Post on January 25, 2016.  After describing her busy life as an attorney with four children who uses a ventilator full time, she explains the risks these laws pose to countless disabled people like her:

I have a terminal condition — very much like ALS — and if assisted suicide were legal, I would qualify. This legislation directly threatens me, my family and my community. Much like terminally ill patients, we are vulnerable and can see how legalizing assisted suicide puts us at risk. That’s why most disability organizations oppose legalization of assisted suicide.

If I were to become depressed — either situational depression or major depression — and this bill passes, I could go to my doctor and ask for a lethal prescription. Because I have a disability, and because physicians are terrible at evaluating quality of life of people with disabilities, I would likely be given that lethal prescription, rather than be referred for mental health treatment. And if my doctor did not give me the lethal prescription, I could simply doctor shop until I found one who would.

To read Carrie Ann’s entire op-ed, go here.

Anita Cameron’s commentary, I choose to live!, appeared in the January 30th edition of the Pueblo Chieftain.  Anita highlighted a number of concerns about the Colorado bill.  For example,

Unscrupulous family members, caregivers and heirs who would coerce those with prescriptions to fill and take them is only one of the pitfalls of this bill. There is no oversight, no state reporting and no witnesses required at the time of death to say if the medication was taken voluntarily.

She also noted a key Pew Center study reflecting the cultural demographics of support and opposition to a public policy of assisted suicide:

My concern about this bill is also rooted in culture: As a black Latina, I have never understood support for assisted suicide. I thought that it was some odd thing that privileged white people were into.

My thoughts were confirmed when I learned that the Pew Research Center recently found that while 54 percent of whites supported assisted suicide, 65 percent of blacks and Latinos opposed it.

To read Anita’s entire op-ed, go here.

Members of Colorado Not Dead Yet and Colorado ADAPT will be testifying today and tomorrow (Feb. 3 and 4) at hearings being held in the Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs Committee and House Judiciary Committee.

Dawn Russell, a state and national leader of ADAPT, plans to testify, in part, as follows, referring to the Colorado Choice Transitions program that helps people move out of nursing facilities and into a real home:

People who are terminally ill are especially vulnerable and at risk. Diagnoses are often wrong and certainly prognosis are wrong.
One of the Colorado Choice Transitions in 2015, is a person with stage 4 breast cancer. She just spent Christmas with her son who was home for the holidays, he attends college in rural New York. She is about to renew her lease for another year.
Other concerns are financial pressure that may exist then the added cost of additional healthcare can push someone to doctor prescribed suicide. Not to mention our profit driven health care system that can easily put that same doctor in a life decision situation along with health insurers.
There are no safeguards for this! … ADAPT’s ask for legislators who support this and those on the fence vote NO. This is deadly legislation with no take backs. 

Victory in New Jersey, NJ Alliance Release Quotes NDY Advocate Kate Blisard

assisted suicide, new jersey, Our News & Commentary Blog,

[Editor’s Note:  Belated great news – after a two year battle, the New Jersey assisted suicide bill failed to pass in the state Senate.]

Assisted Suicide Bill Dies in New Jersey Senate

An important victory that bolsters opposition nationwide

Trenton, NJ – “The New Jersey Alliance Against Doctor-Prescribed Suicide applauds the New Jersey Senate for recognizing the dangers to older people and those with disabilities and allowing S 382, legislation to legalize assisted suicide, to die without a vote on the floor of the Senate,” stated Kate Blisard of Not Dead Yet.   “People are surprised to learn that all major national disability groups that have taken a position on the issue oppose the legalization of assisted suicide because the dangers of misdiagnosis, coercion and abuse put us at great risk.”

“A bi-partisan group of New Jersey Senators took the time to listen to the disability-rights community and to understand why it is important that doctor-prescribed suicide not become law in New Jersey,” continued Democratic Senator Peter Barnes. “It became clear that this bill would have a detrimental impact on vulnerable populations and expose them to abuse, coercion and possible denial of health care because it costs more than suicide drugs. While the bill’s few, vocal supporters educated legislators as to their personal concerns, it became clear that there are other solutions than doctor-prescribed suicide to address end-of-life pain. For that reason, there was never a groundswell of support for this bill and, on balance, we heard from many more voices opposed to this bill.”

The New Jersey Alliance exposed the following flaws in S 382:

  • No requirement of mental health evaluation or pain relief consultation.
  • Permits an heir to witness a death request.
  • Requires no oversight on whether the patient was willing to take the lethal drugs.
  • No requirement that a medical person be present to supervise the ingestion of lethal drugs.
  • Allows a third party familiar with how the patient communicates to make the death request.
  • Permits lethal drugs to remain in a patient’s home without securing them.
  • Relies on the inaccurate premise that a doctor can predict death within six months.
  • No distinction as to whether the death prediction is with or without treatment of the patient.
  • No required notification of family members.
  • Immunizes from prosecution anyone participating in administering lethal drugs, even if their participation was coercive and out of self-interest
  • Falsely certifies the cause of death.

The New Jersey Alliance Against Doctor-Prescribed Suicide is a broadly-based, diverse coalition of organizations strongly opposed to the legalization of assisted suicide.   Alliance organizations include:

Resources for Independent Living
Dial, Inc. Center for Independence
Center for Independent Living
Heightened Independence and Progress – Bergen
Heightened Independence and Progress — Hudson
Progressive Center for Independent Living
Total Living Center
National Council on Independent Living
Not Dead Yet
Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living
United Spinal Association
New Jersey Catholic Conference
New Jersey Right to Life
New Jersey Family Policy Council
American Academy of Medical Ethics
The Alliance website is located at www.noassistedsuicidenj.org. It can also be found on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/NoAssistedSuicideNJ/ and followed on Twitter at: @NoNJSuicide

Weekly Advocacy Monitor Reports on NCIL & ADAPT Joining NDY Amicus Brief

Our News & Commentary Blog

[The following article appeared in the National Council on Independent Living’s Weekly Advocacy Monitor, quoting NCIL’s Kelly Buckland and ADAPT’s Bruce Darling.]

NCIL, Not Dead Yet, and Nine Other Disability Rights Organizations File Brief in New York Assisted Suicide Case

January 13, 2016 By

 

On January 6, NCIL joined Not Dead Yet and nine other national and New York state disability rights organizations in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in the New York Appellate Division in support of a lower court ruling dismissing a case seeking to legalize physician assisted suicide. The case is Myers v. Schneiderman.

Also joining in the brief were ADAPT, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, the Center for Disability Rights, the New York Association on Independent Living, and Regional Center for Independent Living, among others.

Each of the Disability Rights Amici brings a specific perspective to the policy debate about assisted suicide. For example, the primary mission of ADAPT is to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities are not forced into nursing facilities, but have the choice to receive consumer directed long term care services in their own home. “If the only alternative to death that those in power offer people who require assistance is poverty and segregation in nursing facilities, then it makes no sense to talk about assisted suicide as a ‘choice’”, said Bruce Darling, an ADAPT organizer based in Rochester, New York.

Many people with disabilities acquire them as a result of accidents or trauma, and their prognosis is often uncertain in the early stages. “If assisted suicide had been legal in the past, even if it were supposedly only for those with ‘terminal’ conditions, many of us would not be here today,” said Kelly Buckland, executive director of the National Council on Independent Living. “I might not be here today, and I’m grateful that assisted suicide was not legal back then, and I’m committed to keeping it that way.”

Disability advocates helped lead efforts to prevent passage of assisted suicide bills in at least a dozen states in 2015. Bills to legalize assisted suicide are expected again in many states in 2016. Not Dead Yet and the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund offer training to any centers for independent living interested in learning how to effectively oppose these bills.

Media Advisory: Disability Rights Advocates Oppose NY Assisted Suicide Bills

Our News & Commentary Blog

[Editor’s Note:  This Media Advisory was issued January 11, 2016 in anticipation of lobby activity scheduled by assisted suicide proponents in Albany, NY for January 12th.  Center for Disability Rights advocates distributed literature to 215 legislator offices the same day.]

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As the work of the 2016 New York State Legislature begins, disability rights advocates are working to educate policy makers about the practical dangers inherent in bills to legalize assisted suicide.

New York based groups that oppose these bills include the New York Association on Independent Living, the Center for Disability Rights, the Regional Center for Independent Living, Not Dead Yet and United Spinal Association.

“Every major national disability organization that has taken a position on assisted suicide opposes legalizing it,” says Diane Coleman, president of Not Dead Yet, a national disability group based in Rochester, New York. “This includes ADAPT, the National Council on Independent Living, and the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF), among others.”

As DREDF’s Marilyn Golden said, “If this bill passes, some people’s lives will be ended without their consent, through mistakes and abuse. No safeguards have ever been enacted or proposed that can prevent this outcome, which can never be undone.”

The NY proposal is based on the law that was passed by public referendum in Oregon. While proponents claim that Oregon is a successful experiment, the evidence indicates otherwise.

For opinion pieces from disability advocates published by the Syracuse Post Standard, Democrat and Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and other outlets, go to the op-ed links on the Not Dead Yet website.

The disability rights opposition to legalizing assisted suicide is an essential part of the discussion which should be included in coverage of the issue. Contact information for spokespersons available for interviews in Albany this week are listed below:

Albany Contacts:

Meghan Schoeffling
Policy Analyst
New York Assn on
Independent Living
W: 518-465-4650
C: 914-417-8651
mschoeffling@ilny.org

Denise Figueroa
Executive Director
Independent Living Ctr.
of the Hudson Valley
W: 518-274-0701
C: 518-225-2625
DFigueroa@ilchv.org

Adam Prizio
Manager of Govt. Affairs
Center for Disability Rights
W: 518-320-7100
C: 603-867-4910
aprizio@cdrnys.org

Rochester Contacts:

Diane Coleman
President/CEO
Not Dead Yet
708-420-0539
dcoleman@notdeadyet.org

Bruce Darling
President/CEO
Center for Disability Rights
585-370-6690
bdarling@cdrnys.org