India: Kerala Commission Recommends Euthanasia Legalization

September 23, 2008euthanasia, India, media coverage, Our News & Commentary Blog, policy, reality checkStephen Drake

Well, this had to happen sooner or later. A legal commission is the state of Kerala has recommended a pretty sweeping legalization of euthanasia:

Kerala Law Reforms Commission has presented a proposal, which recommends that euthanasia or mercy killing should be made legal in the state. The proposal also suggests deletion of Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code which holds attempt to suicide as an offence. The panel was headed by retired Supreme Court judge V.R. Krishna Iyer.

Euthanasia is defined in the proposal as “deprivation of life by oneself, or by any other person at the insistence of the person whose life is lost, or by medical practitioner doing any act or omission resulting in termination of life.”

The proposal says that if the victim of suffering and his closest relatives, after taking responsible medical opinion about the irrecoverability of pain-free normality, creates the right to euthanasia. Solace compassion, justice and humanism make euthanasia a legally permissible farewell to life in its misery and desperation.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Trouble is, it ignores the reality of the rash of highly-publicized pleas for “mercy killings” put forth by families and individuals in India over the past few years. This is a fairly representative example:

KOLKATA: An ailing 40-year-old woman and her husband have written to the District Magistrate of North 24-Parganas seeking permission to undergo euthanasia, official sources said.

Swapna Das, suffering from a kidney disorder, and her husband Biswanath, a soccer coach at a local club, got married five years ago. The couple stated that they have decided to end their lives because they can not meet the cost of treating Das’ illness.

“We need Rs 6,000 for a dialysis and another Rs 3.5 lakh for a replacement,” Das said. Biswanath said they were currently dependent on neighbours’ help for her survival.

This couple is typical of the “mercy killing” pleas that have emerged in India. Central to virtually every story is the despair over the inability to get treatment, support or in some cases even adequate food and shelter.

But the Kerala Law Reforms Commission neatly ignored the economic and social factors that have been central to the plight of those who have sued for permission to kill themselves, a relative or be killed by a third party.

In almost every publicized case, the plea for euthanasia was lost, but the publicity forced the government to free up some resources for the suffering family or individual.

Maybe the members of the Kerala Law Reforms Commission are tired of that kind of embarrassment. If the recommendations of the commission are followed, families in dire straits won’t have to file suit. There will be no public clamor or attention called to how little support there is for families with ill or disabled family members. No demand on the government to do more for these families.

Instead, they just get to die quietly. And the government can call it “compassion.” –Stephen Drake

Confusing editorial from the Oregonian

September 23, 2008assisted suicide, media issues, Oregon, Our News & Commentary Blog, Washington stateStephen Drake

Over the weekend, the editorial board at the Oregonian published an editorial claiming that the fears of critics of Oregon’s assisted suicide law appear to be unfounded. Nevertheless, the editors of the Oregonian don’t endorse the Washington attempt to legalize assisted suicide.

Confused?

So, apparently, is the editorial board at the Oregonian:

Ten years’ experience with Oregon’s one-of-a-kind Death With Dignity Act has shown that our deepest concerns were unfounded. Safeguards built into the law appear to be working.

Terminally ill people from other states have not flocked to Oregon to commit suicide, and Oregonians themselves are not using the law in large numbers. It has not targeted the disabled as feared, nor has it steamrollered vulnerable people into taking their lives.

But…

On the negative side, Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide program has not been sufficiently transparent. Essentially, a coterie of insiders run the program, with a handful of doctors and others deciding what the public may know. We’re aware of no substantiated abuses, but we’d feel more confident with more sunlight on the program. (Emphasis added.)

Given the statement about the lack of transparency and the closed shop “running the program,” shouldn’t they say that they really can’t say tell if the fears of abuses were unfounded? At the very least, promoters have fallen far short of their original promise to bring what they claimed was a widespread secretive practice into the light.

For what it’s worth, here’s the reason they give for opposing the Washington state initiative:

Our fundamental objection is the same it has always been — that’s it’s wrong to use physicians and pharmacists to hasten patients’ deaths.

That’s fine as far as it goes. But given the harsh critique of how the program is run, they could have done a far better job of informing the public discussion of this policy issue. That critique is literally begging for longer analysis of the failure of Oregon to provide the transparency, openness and accountability that was originally promised.

I always thought that one of the things the press was supposed to do was hound overnment and bureaucracies when openness and accountability fall short.

Apparently, that one sentence is as far as the Oregonian is willing to go. –Stephen Drake

Additional Sources of Information and Coverage on ADAPT and DUH City

September 17, 2008activism, ADAPT, advocacy, Our News & Commentary BlogStephen Drake

I wanted to point out a few specific links on the DUH City website as great resources for anyone wanting to see/read/access further coverage of ADAPT’s activities in DC.

First, there’s a list of links to participants in the ADAPT Blogswarm, each giving their take on the happenings in DC. (this blog isn’t on the list – my fault for not telling anyone this blog would be covering ADAPT until last Friday)

Issues of the DUH City Times – DUH City’s daily newspaper, in both pdf and text versions.

DUH City TV – four videos up now, 3 of them captioned.

This section has photos and commentary – updated at least once daily.

One more – for the latest in text messages from DC ADAPTERs and the occasional photo, check out NationalADAPT on Twitter.

ADAPT Visited Congress Yesterday – 50 Arrested

September 17, 2008activism, ADAPT, advocacy, Our News & Commentary Blog, policy, politicsStephen Drake

Yesterday, I was occupied getting action alerts out by email during the ADAPT visits to Congress. Today’s press release from ADAPT will catch everyone up on yesterday’s activities:

For Immediate Release
September 17, 2008
For information Contact:
Randy Alexander (901) 359-4982
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504
http://www.adapt.org/
http://www.duhcity.org/

50 Arrested as ADAPT Takes Affordable, Accessible Housing Crisis to Congress

Washington, D.C.—From their base at “DUH City”, groups of ADAPT activists fanned out on the Hill to hit congressional leaders who have responsibility to help solve the housing crisis for low income people with disabilities. Visits to the offices of Rep. Barney Frank (D, MA), a longtime leader on housing issues, and Senators Chris Dodd (D, CT) and Richard Shelby (R, AL), the Chair and ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs resulted in a total of 50 arrests.

“Our first stop was to see Rep. Barney Frank,” said Diane Coleman of ADAPT in Rochester, New York. “ADAPT has been in talks with him over the past year, and early on he told us in no uncertain terms that he could get 500 housing vouchers from HUD that would be targeted to free people with disabilities who live in nursing
homes and other institutions. He repeated that promise for months, and we kept
trusting his word, and then one day he suddenly says he can’t help us. We were also working with him to get funding that pays for segregated housing redirected to support integrated housing and more vouchers. Sen. Frank arranged a hearing on this funding, and not only did he not invite any people with disabilities to testify, he didn’t even notify us about the hearing. So, today, we decided to confront him on his broken promises and bad faith.”

Shortly after 13 ADAPT members entered Franks’ office, he ordered staff to have them arrested, refusing to even discuss th e ADAPT concerns, or strategies to address the housing crisis for low income people with disabilities trapped in institutions for lack of affordable, accessible, integrated housing.

ADAPT went to the offices of Dodd and Shelby because HUD and housing fall under the purview of their committee. Sen. Shelby declined to work with ADAPT saying, “I don’t help people who can’t help themselves.” There were 19 arrests made in Shelby’s office. An aide to Sen. Dodd spoke with ADAPT, but declined to put her remarks on paper after indicating she might be willing to do so. ADAPT continued to wait for the written statement, and eventually nearly 25 people were arrested.

“The TV is full of news about the bank crisis, and the mortgage crisis, and the need for candidates to appeal to middle income people,” said Cassie James, Philadelphia ADAPT organizer. “Meanwhile, people who live on disability benefits, and people who are trapped in nursing homes because of no housing are being held hostage while the governm ent bails everyone else out. Rent has gone up so much, it’s higher than many monthly disability benefits. Not only do us younger people with disabilities need affordable, accessible housing, older people need it, too. This is a crisis, and we need help to solve it.”

ADAPT has been in D.C. since September 13, erecting DUH City, a tent city, on the plaza outside HUD headquarters to bring attention to the situation of the people who have been ignored in this election year- low income people with disabilities. The crises with the economy and housing extend well beyond the middle class, but the Presidential candidates and their parties have seemingly forgotten that fact. Not so, ADAPT.

Diane Coleman sent a few pictures she took with her cell phone. Here are two that are favorites of mine:

Barney Frank, telling ADAPTERs “this is not the way to get an appointment!”

Gene Spinning, board president of the Center for Disability Rights, being arrested at Barney Frank’s office.

Scene at McCain HQ is Escalating and ADAPT is Asking for Help

September 15, 2008activism, ADAPT, Our News & Commentary Blog, policy, politicsStephen Drake

This came via several people:

ADAPTers are currently in John McCain’s national headquarters, blocking the doors and chanting. ADAPT is demanding that the staff relay the housing platform directly to McCain, they are refusing, Police are on the scene. You can support the ADAPTers by calling McCain’s HQ and telling them that you want John McCain to endorse ADAPT’s housing platform! The number is (703) 297-8900 CALL NOW! FREE OUR PEOPLE!

Again, the number is 703-297-8900.

Just a note – the majority of the people with disabilities at this action make substantially less than the $58,000 disability pension that Senator McCain receives. They’d also like to be able to find just one small house or apartment they can afford and get into. –Stephen Drake