NDY Protests the World Federation Conference – From My Vantage Point

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Not Dead Yet and other disability rights activists from around the U.S. and Canada held a three-day protest vigil at an international assisted suicide and euthanasia conference held in Chicago last week, hosted by the U.S. group Final Exit Network.   Some of the first day’s events, including an opening rally, were covered here.  We plan to post video of the rally soon, and want to thank our speakers:

  • Marca Bristo, President/CEO, Access Living
  • Bruce Darling, Organizer, National ADAPT
  • Mike Ervin, Chicago ADAPT
  • Amy Hasbrouck, Director, Toujours Vivant/Not Dead Yet Canada
  • Pam Heavens, Executive Director, Will-Grundy Center for Independent Living
  • Gail Kear, President, Illinois Network of Centers for Independent Living, Executive Director, LIFE CIL
  • John Kelly, Director, Second Thoughts
  • Carrie Lucas, Executive Director, Center for Rights of Parents with Disabilities

We also want to thank disability rights folk singer and musician Elaine Kolb who lent her talents to the rally and throughout the 3-day action.  Elaine also shared her collection of percussion instruments for many to use as our voices became over extended from chanting messages like “Help to Live, Not to Die” and “Final Exit: Stop the Lies.”

We distributed four leaflets in English and Spanish.  The area was high in foot traffic, so by the end of Day 1, we had distributed almost 2000 and had to make more for Day 2 and 3 and, having underestimated again (trying to be frugal), we had to make more again for Day 3.

Day 2 began with leafleting, singing and chanting until our press conference at noon, which focused on our concerns about the urgent situation in Canada.  The press release announcing the press conference was posted here.  Amy Hasbrouck, director of Toujours Vivant/Not Dead Yet Canada and Nic Steenhout, director of Vivre dans la dignité (Living with Dignity) each spoke, and we plan to post video of their remarks as soon as possible.  Hasbrouck echoed the discrimination theme of the protest: “Do we want to be a country that says some suicidal people will get suicide prevention while other suicidal people will be killed?  I think that goes against our values of fairness, equality and solidarity.”

On Friday early evening, the World Federation conference planned to hold its Gala Banquet and Awards Ceremony at the John Hancock Building about half a mile away.  Knowing that delegates would be leaving the hotel, protesters in wheelchairs sat in the hotel’s primary doorways (though there were many security doors we left alone).  Our assumption was that we would be pulled off the doorways by security or police fairly early in the process, but would then be forcing all the departing delegates to look at our faces, our signs and hear our chants up close.  It’s hard to convey the emotion of that in words, but it has an impact.

I’m not yet sure about all that transpired in the 60 – 90 minutes of that action.  Early on, some people who wanted to get into a certain door at the hotel became very angry at a protester from Texas, and I was asked to go there to help if needed.  It turned out that I was not needed.  As harsh as they got, pushing against her wheelchair, she maintained her nonviolent discipline perfectly, and simply kept to her message, sometimes adding her own personal experience of disability oppression.  Five of us stayed together in this group until I was asked to go and talk to the hotel manager.

By then, security or police had opened three individual doors around the hotel, but were apparently concerned about being able to keep them open (if a wheelchair goes into an open doorway, it may effectively become closed again).  I agreed to meet with our leadership team and we decided to conclude the action for that evening.  There were no arrests.

It so happened that Not Dead Yet had six people staying in three rooms at the hotel being used by the World Federation.  Over the course of that night and the wee hours of the morning, these paying hotel guests each had a few visitors in their rooms.

The pride of the Embassy Suites Chicago hotel is an 11 story open atrium, which is surrounded by floor upon floor of guest rooms that look down over the atrium from a balcony surrounded by a glass railing.  At 7:45 am our guests and visitors all went to the same upper level floor, held the elevators there and began chanting, “We don’t need your suicide; Not Dead Yet keeps us alive!”  The famous atrium was an echo chamber for delivering our message.

Within an hour, the protesters at the elevators were escorted by security and police down the elevators and taken to rejoin the protesters holding vigil outside.  Again there were no arrests.  The leafleting, chanting and music continued until noon, when we marched to a nearby park, and passed around a bullhorn to hear our members recount their experiences and reflections on the action.

There will be more stories, photos, video and thoughts to share in the days and weeks ahead.  Here is the reflection that is most in my thoughts today.  Not Dead Yet formed in 1996 because disability rights advocates, who had been addressing the problems of assisted suicide and euthanasia by traditional advocacy and public education approaches, called for a street action group like ADAPT to focus on this.  (ADAPT is the direct action group that got lifts on public buses included in the Americans with Disabilities Act and since then has been working on establishing and implementing our right to receive long term care services at home rather than being forced into nursing facilities.)

We started out with folks from New York, Colorado, Illinois and Canada.  Then a significant number of ADAPT leaders, and the ADAPT youth movement, already committed to a direct action in Little Rock, Arkansas earlier the same week, decided to get on a bus from Little Rock to Chicago and add their numbers to help make this bigger.  Exhausted as they were, they changed from their ADAPT t-shirts to their Not Dead Yet t-shirts and summoned the power to make our voices heard.  This made all the difference.

It’s not likely that the delegates to the conference of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies will soon forget, “We don’t need your suicide; Not Dead Yet keeps us alive!”

 

 

 

Belgian Prisoner Serving Life Sentence Wins Right to Be Euthanized (I kind of predicted this in 1998)

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Belgian murderer Van Den Bleeken wins ‘right to die’:

A Belgian man serving a life sentence for rape and murder will be allowed to have doctors end his life, after a landmark ruling.

Unable to control his violent sexual urges, Frank Van Den Bleeken, who is 50, argued he would never be freed.

The decision follows a three-year legal battle by the prisoner, who was convicted in the 1980s.

The ruling is the first involving a prisoner since the assisted dying law was introduced in Belgium 12 years ago.

Van Den Bleeken will soon be transferred to a hospital where the medical procedure will take place, his lawyers told reporters.

“But I cannot say when or where that will happen,” Jos Vander Velpen added.

Shocked? Not me. In one of my more whimsical moments, I drafted and sent out a phony press release regarding a similar scenario, but set in the US and with a slightly more convoluted set of circumstances.:

Los Angeles – April 1, 1998
Affiliated Press

At a press conference today, the American Civil Liberties Union Announced
it would be supporting the request of a death row prisoner to obtain assisted
suicide.  Sid Nasty, who has been on death row for 5 years awaiting the outcome
of appeals in his death sentence in the slaying of 5 girl scouts, has applied
for assistance in committing suicide.
Nasty, in an appeal filed yesterday, contends that his present quality of
life is unacceptable and seeks to voluntarily end his “suffering” and
“meaningless existence”.  Nasty says that even if his death sentence is
commuted, the best he can hope for is a life sentence with no hope for parole.
Nasty, in a taped presentation, explained: “Hell, I figure the ACLU has
helped cripples in nursing homes to escape being locked up with no hope of
parole.  Why should they get the right to die and I don’t?  The food may be a
little better in here than in a nursing home, but aside from that, it’s pretty
much the same”.
This action of the ACLU stands in stark contrast to its actions in the case
of Gary Gilmore, who asked that all appeals on his behalf be withdrawn so he
could be executed by a firing squad.  The ACLU argued that Gilmore was
depressed by the circumstances of his incarceration and could not be making an
informed choice in the matter.  ACLU spokesperson Sol Phistry explained that
the ACLU was firm in opposing the death penalty then and now.
”Nasty’s appeals for a commutation of sentence will stay in place.  Gillmore
was asking for the state to execute him.  Nasty is asking the state to allow
him to release himself from an untenable existence.  He will be administering
the lethal injection to himself, not some flunkie hired by the prison.  This is
about choice.
“Jack Kevorkian, a pioneer in the right to die, said it best; to paraphrase
him: “The voluntary self-elimination of murderers, rapists and other felons,
taken collectively can only serve to enhance the public health and welfare.”(emphasis added.)

On one of the email lists this got posted to at the time, an ACLU board member (don’t remember if it was a state or the national board) commented that the author had an “overactive imagination.” Who knew that I was actually exhibiting – totally unconsciously – clairvoyance, my least known superpower.

PRESS RELEASE (English and French): Disability Rights Activists Begin 2nd Day of Protests Against Pro-Euthanasia Conference in Chicago

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2014

CONTACT

Diane Coleman 708-420-0539;  Amy Hasbrouck 450-921-3057

Disability Rights Activists Begin Second Day of Protests

Against International Euthanasia Group Meeting in Chicago

Canadian and Québécois activists will join American Disabled for
Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), Not Dead Yet (NDY) and other
disability rights groups in Chicago September 18-20 to protest the
World Federation of Right to Die Societies conference. Amy
Hasbrouck, director of Toujours Vivant/Not Dead Yet Canada and
Nic Steenhout, director of Living with Dignity, will hold a press
conference on Friday, September 19 at noon at 511 N. Columbus
Drive, Chicago, to respond to Canadian speakers at the conference.
“A busload of ADAPT activists just arrived last night to join us after a week of protests
for home care and freedom from nursing facilities,” said Diane Coleman, President and
CEO of Not Dead Yet USA. “We’re also thrilled to have representatives of our sister
organization in Canada join us for this three day protest vigil. It demonstrates that the
disability rights opposition to legalized euthanasia is growing and is, increasingly, a
worldwide phenomenon.”
“There is no public consensus for euthanasia in Québec, or in Canada” said Steenhout.
“Surveys show that people don’t understand that ‘aid in dying’ means giving a lethal
injection. When people are informed of what the terms really mean, they don’t support
the idea.”
“This is an important moment for Canada,” said Hasbrouck. “Do we want to be a
country that says some suicidal people will get suicide prevention while other suicidal
people will be killed? I think that goes against our values of fairness, equality and
solidarity.”
Hasbrouck points out that both the Québec euthanasia law and the federal bill could
lead to the deaths of people with disabilities.
“The Québec law does not define what it means to be at the ‘end of life’” she said, “nor
does it specify a waiting period before the euthanasia.” She added that the federal bill
doesn’t require that the person have a terminal illness to be eligible for assisted death.
Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet (TVNDY) is a project of the Council of Canadians with
Disabilities to represent the disability opposition to assisted suicide and euthanasia
across the country. Living with Dignity / Vivre dans la dignité is a Québec based,
secular group opposing euthanasia in that province, the second largest in the country.
Both groups were active in opposing the euthanasia law recently adopted in Québec.

###

POUR DIFFUSION IMMÉDIATE    19 septembre, 2014

 

 

Contact :
Amy Hasbrouck, 450-921-3057
Nic Steenhout, 438-931-1233

Des activistes canadiens et québécois se joindront aux groupes American Disabled for
Attendants Programs Today (ADAPT), Not Dead Yet (NDY) et à d’autres groupes de
défense des droits des personnes en situation de handicap à Chicago du 18 au 20
septembre pour protester contre la conférence de la Fédération mondiale de Droit de
mourir.
« Il n’y a pas consensus public pour l’euthanasie au Québec ou au Canada », a déclaré
Nicolas Steenhout, directeur général de Vivre dans la Dignité. « Les sondages montrent
que les gens ne comprennent pas que “l’aide médicale à mourir”, c’est donner une
injection létale. Les gens n’appuient plus l’idée quand ils sont informés de ce que les
termes signifient vraiment ».
« C’est un moment important pour le Canada », a déclaré Amy Hasbrouck, directrice de
Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet. « Voulons-nous être un pays qui dit que certaines
personnes suicidaires recevraient des services de prévention du suicide alors que
d’autres personnes suicidaires seront tuées? Cela va à l’encontre de nos valeurs
d’équité, d’égalité et de solidarité ».
Hasbrouck souligne que tant la loi sur l’euthanasie du Québec et le projet de loi fédéral
pourraient conduire à la mort de personnes en situation de handicap.
« La loi du Québec ne définit pas le terme “fin de vie” », dit-elle, « et le projet de loi
fédéral n’exige pas que la personne ait une maladie terminale pour être admissible à
l’aide au suicide ». Elle ajoute que le projet de loi fédéral n’exige pas que la personne
ait une maladie en phase terminale pour être admissible à l’aide au suicide.
Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet (TVNDY) est un projet du Conseil des Canadiens avec
déficiences pour représenter l’opposition au suicide assisté et à l’euthanasie à travers le
pays par les personnes en situation de handicap. Living with Dignity/Vivre Dans La
Dignité est un groupe laïque basé au Québec opposant l’euthanasie dans cette
province, la deuxième plus grande province dans le pays. Les deux groupes étaient
actifs dans l’opposition de la loi sur l’euthanasie adoptée récemment au Québec.
TVNDY et Vivre dans la Dignité tiendront une conférence de presse le vendredi 19
septembre à midi pour réagir à des conférenciers canadiens à la conférence.

###

Chicago NDY Protest of International Pro-Euthanasia Conference – Day 1

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Yesterday, September 18th, was the first day of NDY’s protest and vigil at the World Federation of Right to Die Societies Conference.

I’m pushed for time this morning, so this will be brief. I’ll post more here later today.

There were many speakers opening up the protest yesterday in Chicago (full list to come) – below is the address given by NDY’s founder and president Diane Coleman:

The incredible activists of Not Dead Yet, that’s who you are.

And it’s wonderful to see all my friends in Chicago again.  Thanks to Progress Center and Access Living for doing so much to make our voices heard this week as we protest the World Federation of Right to Die Societies.  Thanks to LIFE CIL, the Will-Grundy Center in Illinois, and TRIPIL from Pennsylvania, and folks who’ve come from as far away as Colorado and Canada.  You’re amazing.

My long time mentor on this issue is Carol Gill, who I first met on a picket line trying to save a young woman with cerebral palsy from a suicide wish that the Hemlock Society exploited.  We helped buy her time and, eventually, she didn’t go through with it and lived.  Three decades later, we’re still fighting this issue and sometimes I wonder if society will ever get it that we deserve the same suicide prevention as everybody else.

When Not Dead Yet started up 18 years ago, the three assisted suicide advocacy organizations in the U.S. each got a white male wheelchair user added to their Boards to try to neutralize our impact.  It didn’t work very well.

If you wonder whether what we are doing is making any difference, this year, with the help of John Kelly, our New England Regional Director, the disability community played a key role in defeating assisted suicide bills in NH, MA and CT.  Are we a force to recon with?  We got a little more confirmation recently.  Some of you may have heard that the attorney who worked many years for Compassion & Choices (formerly the Hemlock Society) was recently hired by the Disability Rights Legal Center in Los Angeles.  It seems that California is a target state next year.

Fortunately, we have the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, in our corner, right there is California.  But there’s work to be done.  This is National Suicide Prevention Month and we’re here to deliver a message that equal rights include the right to equal suicide prevention, not a streamlined path to assisted suicide and euthanasia.  What we know is this:

We want assistance to live, not die.

We are not better off dead than disabled.

We don’t need to die to have dignity.

We are strong and proud, and we are

NOT DEAD YET!!

You can read local coverage of the conference and protest from the local CBS affiliate here.

To get involved at home and/or get the latest updates on the protest, you can do the following:

1. If you use twitter, follow @NotDeadYetUSA on twitter.
2. Facebook users should “like” the Not Dead Yet page.

Share any updates with your friends and followers. If you have a blog, or use any other web medium to write, this would be a good time to educate your readers on the issues.

Remember, things are scheduled to get started at noon central time today. But these things have a way of running late, so don’t panic if you don’t hear anything at the crack of noon.

Press Release: Disability Rights Activists to Protest International Euthanasia Group Meeting in Chicago

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    CONTACTS
September 17, 2014                             Diane Coleman 708-420-0539
                                                                       Gary Armold 773-425-2536

The disability rights group Not Dead Yet announced today that it would lead a three-day protest vigil against the World Federation of Right to Die Societies during the Federation’s biennial meeting being held in Chicago. The American group Final Exit Network is hosting the meeting, which runs from September 17-20 at the Embassy Suites Chicago. The group has scheduled a rally to open the protest vigil at 511 North Columbus Drive on September 18 at 12 PM.

”We are here to contradict the message of these groups that it’s better to be dead than disabled,” said Not Dead Yet president Diane Coleman of New York.

The meeting is being hosted by the Final Exit Network, an American group known for its use of “Exit Guides” to instruct and assist people with “irreversible physical illness, intractable pain, or a constellation of chronic, progressive physical disabilities” to kill themselves using “Exit Bags” filled with helium.

The 2012 PBS documentary, “The Suicide Plan,” included statements and video in which Final Exit Network leader Ted Goodwin admitted and demonstrated holding the person’s arms down to prevent them from pulling the Exit Bag off of their head.

“This is a collection of reckless suicide fanatics,” said John Kelly of Second Thoughts Massachusetts, whose group was instrumental in defeating assisted suicide bills and a referendum in that state.

The World Federation of Right to Die Societies was organized in 1980 to bring together the various groups in Europe and Anglophone countries which promote euthanasia and assisted suicide. The Federation last met in the United States in 2000, when it was also protested by Not Dead Yet in Boston.

“These are the people that we have seen in the news, people who condoned the suicides of the Belgian twins who were losing their sight, or of the woman who was afraid she would not be able to see a stain on her shirt.” said Amy Hasbrouck from the Canadian group, Toujours Vivant/Not Dead Yet, which is working to defeat Canadian initiatives that will be promoted at the conference.  Hasbrouck and other Canadians will be joining the Chicago protest vigil.