MEDIA ADVISORY(Mass) – Forum and Discussion of Ballot Question 2 at Boston Public Library Oct. 3, 2 pm to 4 pm with NDY CEO Diane Coleman

assisted suicide, Ballot Question 2, Boston Center for Independent Living, diane coleman, media, Our News & Commentary Blog, Second Thoughts

October 2, 2012

For Immediate Release

Contact: Yvette Ollada

617.902.0662

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

Boston Center for Independent Living and Second Thoughts Sponsor Forum on Question 2

Wednesday, October 3 at Boston Public Library

Who:  Boston Center for Independent Living & Second Thoughts – People with Disabilities Opposing Question 2

What: Forum and discussion of Ballot Question 2 featuring Diane Coleman – President and CEO of Not Dead Yet, a national grassroots disability rights organization opposing the legalization of assisted suicide. She founded Not Dead Yet in 1996 and served as Board Chair until becoming CEO in 2011. Ms. Coleman is a well-known writer and speaker on assisted suicide and euthanasia, and has appeared in national broadcasts on Washington Journal, Nightline, McLaughlin, The Rolanda Show, The Charles Grodin Show, CBS Up To the Minute, ABC World News Tonight, CNN (Connie Chung, Paula Zahn, Headline News), The Catherine Crier Show,Court TV, CBS Evening News, MSNBC’s The Abrahms Report, Fox News The Neil Cavuto Show, Fox and Friends and National Public Radio, as well as local broadcast outlets in several states. She has presented invited testimony before Subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives or Senate four times (April 29, 1996, July 14, 1998, April 19, 2005 and May 25, 2006). From 2003 to 2008, she was a member of the adjunct faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago and co-taught graduate courses in disability and medical ethics. Ms. Coleman is a person with significant disabilities who has used a motorized wheelchair since the age of eleven.

When:  Wednesday, October 3, 2012 – 2pm to 4pm

Where: Boston Public Library, 700 Boylston St., Mezzanine Level Conference Room

###

No On Question 2 is a diverse coalition of disability rights organizations, doctors, nurses, community leaders, faith based groups and patient rights advocates.

www.NoOnQuestion2.org

www.Twitter.com/NoOnQuestion2MA

www.Facebook.com/NoOnBallotQuestion2

 

New Press Release from ‘No on 2’ (Mass.) – State Rep. John Rogers (D-Norwood) says ‘No’ to Ballot Question 2

assisted suicide, Ballot Question 2, legislation, Massachusetts, No on Question 2, Our News & Commentary Blog, referendum

New Press Release from NoOn2,

(The image above is a graphic rendering of “No on 2”)

For Immediate Release

September 26, 2012

Contact: Tim Rosales

617.902.0662

 

State Rep. John Rogers (D-Norwood) says ‘No’ to Ballot Question 2

“particularly concerned about issues like cost-cutting, no requirement for a psychiatric evaluation…”

 

Boston – Adding his name to the growing list of opponents to Ballot Question 2 is State Representative John Rogers (D-Norwood). Representative Rogers joins organizations like the Boston Center for Independent Living, Cambridge Commission for Persons with Disabilities and others across Massachusetts opposing Ballot Question 2.

 

“As a Democrat committed to improving the quality of life for our citizens, I have a number of problems with Ballot Question 2 and am endorsing a ‘No’ vote,” said State Rep. John Rogers.

 

“I am particularly concerned about issues like cost-cutting, no requirement for a psychiatric evaluation and that there is no real state oversight.  I believe that these concerns expressed in large part by Massachusetts’ disability rights community, should be given serious weight and Ballot Question 2 defeated.”

 

State Representative John Rogers was first elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in November of 1992 and, is currently serving his ninth term as a legislator. He represents the 12th Norfolk District which includes 38,000 citizens in the towns of Norwood and Walpole. John served as House Majority Leader from January 2005 through January 2009. Currently he is a member of the committees on Education, Labor and Workforce Development, and Veterans and Federal Affairs.

 

Ballot Question 2 on the November statewide ballot seeks to legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts. For more information about No On Question 2 and reasons to oppose this measure go to: http://www.noonquestion2.org/index.php/about/faq

 

###

No On Question 2 is a diverse coalition of disability rights organizations, doctors, nurses, community leaders, faith based groups and patient rights advocates.

 

www.NoOnQuestion2.org

www.Twitter.com/NoOnQuestion2MA

www.Facebook.com/NoOnBallotQuestion2

 

Press Release (Mass.) Disability Rights leaders reach out to Elizabeth Warren regarding ‘No On 2’

"death with dignity", assisted suicide, disability rights advocates, Elizabeth Warren, john kelly, Massachusetts, No on Question 2, Our News & Commentary Blog, press release

For Immediate Release

September 25, 2012

Contact: Tim Rosales

617-902-0662

 

 

Disability Rights leaders reach out to Elizabeth Warren regarding ‘No On 2’

Ask to meet and discuss reasons why many progressives oppose assisted suicide

 

 

Boston, MA – State and national disability rights/social justice advocates are asking Massachusetts United States Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren to meet about Ballot Question 2 and discuss their reasons for strongly opposing this measure to legalize assisted suicide.   The disability rights leaders include: John Kelly – Executive Director of Second Thoughts and former Chair of the Boston Disability Advisory Commission, Karen Shneiderman – Senior Advocacy Specialist for Boston Center for Independent Living Inc, Marilyn Golden – Senior Policy Analyst for the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund and Diane Coleman – President of Not Dead Yet.  All are part of the diverse coalition that oppose legalization of assisted suicide, which is what Ballot Question 2 would do in Massachusetts if approved.

 

“Ballot question 2 contains a number of problematic issues that raise red flags with progressive voters.  These are arguments and perspectives Ms. Warren may not have heard yet, and are asking for the opportunity to meet and brief her and her team,” said John Kelly, Executive Director of Second Thoughts and former Chair of the Advisory Board to the Boston Disability Commission.

 

“We already have seen serious cost cutting pressures. We constantly hear about the costs of caring for people in the last year of their lives. We can point to examples in Oregon and Washington, where assisted suicide is legal of these implicit and explicit cost pressures. Ballot question 2 legalizes a $100 lethal prescription and that sends a terrible message to people living with serious illness or disability.

 

“As a lifelong Democrat, I have a deep respect for Ms. Warren.  I truly hope we are able to discuss this issue that is so critically important to the Massachusetts disability community.”

 

Yesterday to WTKK-FM, Elizabeth Warren made a comment that she was leaning toward supporting assisted suicide legalization.

 

Disability rights organizations that have come out in opposition to legalization of assisted suicide include:

American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Boston Center for Independent Living, Disability Policy Consortium, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), Justice For All (JFA), MetroWest Center for Independent Living, National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), National Spinal Cord Injury Association, Not Dead Yet (NDY), TASH, The World Association of Persons with Disabilities (WAPD), The World Institute on Disability (WID).

 

###

You can access the original press release here.

Background: Apparently, Ms. Warren said she was ‘leaning’ toward supporting Ballot Question 2 – which would legalize assisted suicide in Massachusetts.  It’s hard to believe that Ms. Warren has taken a close look at the wording of proposed legislation, virtually identical to statutes in Oregon and Washington states.  As one of the leading consumer advocates in the country, she’s better equipped than most to look at legislation – including ‘safeguards’ – and see just who gets the highest level of protection under the law.

Here’s an example from a ‘Safeguards’ fact sheet from the Disability Rights and Defense Fund (DREDF):

Spurious Safeguard #4: Doctors will be held legally accountable.

In Fact: Oregon’s law establishes a standard that protects doctors from legal liability if they act in “good faith.” This is almost impossible to disprove. It legalizes negligence.

Remember the old adage ‘ignorance of the law is no excuse’?  A “Good Faith” standard against legal liability provides not just an excuse, but ironclad immunity from any legal liability or accountability.
More as this story develops…

Disabilityscoop fails to get the real scoop – Disability, organ transplantation and the HHS

ari ne'eman, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, disabilityscoop, discrimination, HHS, national council on independent living, national disability leadership alliance, organ donation, organ transplants, Our News & Commentary Blog

On September 14, three representatives of the National Disability Leadership Alliance (NDLA) met with the Health and Human Services (HHS) Division on Transplantation.  Two major concerns were brought to the meeting.

Kelly Buckland, the Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), was one of the participants and NCIL published a brief report on the meeting on September 19:

On September 14, 2012, NCIL Executive Director Kelly Buckland, along with other representatives of the National Disability Leadership Alliance, a national coalition of consumer-controlled organizations, met with the HHS Division on Transplantation.

NCIL stands firmly against discrimination in organ transplants, which are often denied based solely on disability, and discrimination in organ procurement practices, which may soon allow organ procurement to be discussed prior to the decision to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from some persons with disabilities.

Also in attendance at the meeting were ASAN President Ari Ne’eman and Not Dead Yet President Diane Coleman. The NDLA representatives urged HHS to “issue strong and unequivocal legal guidance” on these issues. NCIL will continue to advocate strongly against policies that have recently resulted in clear cases of disability discrimination in life or death situations.

In three short paragraphs, the NCIL report informs readers who was at the meeting and exactly what issues were covered.

Earlier today, disabilityscoop, an online publication that describes itself as the “premiere source of developmental disability news,” published an article on the same meeting.

As the title of the article indicates (Advocates Call for End to Transplant Discrimination), the article focuses on the issue of the denial of transplant consideration to people with disabilities, based solely on their disability.  The emphasis is understandable for a publication that focuses on developmental disabilities.  What is not understandable is the total omission of the other concerns brought forth at the meeting regarding increased reports of pressure brought to bear on families by discussing organ donation when a loved one is on life-support.  These situations involve newly-brain injured people of any age (and those under the age of 21 are considered to be developmentally disabled) and people with disabilities of any age dependent on technology to live.

Prior to publication, Ari Ne’eman, head of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, put Disability Scoop in touch with Not Dead Yet concerning the organ procurement concerns raised at the meeting.  Not Dead Yet provided the publication three letters(1 is here, 2 is here, and 3 will be up soon) we had previously submitted in response to requests for public comment to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network.  “Not Dead Yet actually invited me to the meeting to address the organ eligibility issue since ASAN has been active on that front,” Ne’eman says.  “We’re grateful to NDY for taking the lead on the organ procurement issue, which also affects people with developmental disabilities.”

Unfortunately, readers of disabilityscoop will come away with the impression that transplant denial was the only issue covered at the meeting.  That’s incomplete and inaccurate reporting.  The decision to exclude a major part of shared concerns brought forth at the meeting is inexplicable.

‘Second Thoughts’ Director John Kelly Debated Assisted Suicide Advocate Marcia Angell on WBUR (MA)

assisted suicide, john kelly, media, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, referendum, Second Thoughts

We’re told that there will be another exchange on WBUR between John Kelly and Dr. Marcia Angell on Monday (9/24) on WBUR's morning edition,twice. It will either run during the 5 AM/7 AM hours, or 6 AM/8 AM hours.

Primer: Pro And Con On Mass. Assisted Suicide Ballot Measure

John Kelly and Marcia Angell

Con and pro: John Kelly, disabilities rights activist and founder of Second Thoughts, who opposes Question 2; and Dr. Marcia Angell, senior lecturer in social medicine at Harvard Medical School and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, who backs the measure. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Come November, if you live in Massachusetts, you’ll face a vote on a life-and-death issue (I mean, even more directly life-and-death than Obama v. Romney.) It’s Question 2 on the ballot, also known as the Death With Dignity initiative and the physician-assisted suicide measure.

It’s a big, rich debate infused by reports from earlier such measures in Oregon and Washington, and this 24-minute segment on Radio Boston is a great way to acquaint yourself with it.

You can listen to yesterday’s debate at this link.