John Kelly’s Excellent Op-Ed in the Boston Globe

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The Mass. Legislature must say ‘no’ to assisted suicide
John Kelly

Image description: fead and shoulders photo of while man with short hair and glasses, with a sip-and-puff wheelchair control near his chin.

IN A COMPLETE ABOUT-FACE, in early December, the Massachusetts Medical Society gave state legislators the nod to enact dangerous public policy that puts my life and the lives of thousands of others in Massachusetts at risk. The medical society rescinded its longstanding opposition to assisted suicide, commonly held with the American Medical Association, that assisted suicide “would ultimately cause more harm than good” and is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.”

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The bill, despite its promise of “end-of-life options,” ultimately takes choice away from people. Because assisted suicide would immediately become the cheapest “treatment” offered, it would encourage insurers to reject traditionally covered treatments. That’s already happening in states where assisted suicide is legal.

Dr. Brian Callister, a Nevada physician, reported earlier this year that two patients were denied routine treatments with 70 percent cure rates by their respective California and Oregon insurance companies, which offered coverage for assisted suicide instead. And again, once assisted suicide became legal in California, Stephanie Packer, a young mother with scleroderma, was denied her prescribed treatment but learned that her assisted suicide copay would be $1.20.

To read the John Kelly’s full article, go here.

Short videos of Dr. Brian Callister and Stephanie Packer talking about their experiences are here and here.

ASAN Announces 7th Annual Day of Mourning – Join in 2018 Events Across U.S.

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Not Dead Yet is honored to be a partner in the seventh annual Day of Mourning, first inaugurated by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network in 2012. Here is ASAN’s announcement of the 2018 Day of Mourning:

In the past five years, over 550 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers.

On Thursday, March 1st, the disability community will gather across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.

In the year since our last vigil, our community has lost over 100 more people to filicide. These are just the cases that we are aware of – since we began monitoring this issue, we learn about more murders every week. We read the victims’ names, see their photographs, and gather what information we can about their lives. The criminal justice system has continued to give lighter sentences to parents and caregivers who murder disabled children. And we have seen both news and entertainment media continue to portray these murders in a sympathetic light.

We hold the Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities. This would not be possible without the vital work of our volunteer site coordinators. Click here to learn about what site coordinators do, or to sign up to lead a vigil.

Since 2012, ASAN, ADAPT, Not Dead Yet, the National Council on Independent Living, the Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, the American Association of People with Disabilities, and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. We’ll be at our local vigils on Thursday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there.

If you’re interested in leading a vigil in your area, please sign up to be a Day of Mourning vigil site coordinator.

Opening Salvo on New York’s 2018 Assisted Suicide Bill

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Disability activists from the Albany area donned bright pink Not Dead Yet t-shirts, carrying leaflets and signs to voice strong opposition to legalization of assisted suicide at a press conference held by proponents of this year’s bill.

Image description: Blond woman with glasses holds sign saying “Assisted Suicide = Deadly Discrimination” with a skull drawn below the words.

Image description: Two men wear bright pink t-shirts, with the words “Not Dead Yet” visible on one man, who is using crutches. The other man holds a sign which says “Assisted Suicide World’s Cheapest Healthcare”.

Local television news covered the press conference and protest, and included brief interviews with Kathryn Carroll (pictured above) and Gregg Beratan, who are from the Center for Disability Rights (CDR), in the news video. CDR’s policy position on the issue is here.

The Staten Island Advance also covered the story in Should terminally ill in N.Y. have access to aid in dying? The coverage included some key issues of concern:

Diane Coleman, president and CEO of Not Dead Yet, an advocacy organization in Rochester, cited several issues with the legislation.

Coleman said that obstacles in obtaining quality health care could lead individuals to opt for aid in death.

“There are a lot of issues getting quality care,” she said. “It gives them an easy way out.”

“That’s just reality,” she continued. “That our insurance companies are going to do the cheap thing over the right thing.”

Coleman also cited a lack of oversight after a prescription is given to a patient as one of the many issues with the bill, arguing that they can be coerced into opting for aid in dying. 

“The bills themselves do not include any type of independent witnesses at the time of ingestion,” Coleman told the Advance. “There’s no way to know.”

On the same day, the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide issued a press release launching the Alliance’s new website, noting that it “that will enhance its ability to work against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in the Empire State.” Not Dead Yet and the Center for Disability Rights are part of the NY Alliance. As CDR’s Director of Advocacy Stephanie Woodward said in the release:

The new website, NoSuicideNY.org, offers readers the latest news on the physician-assisted suicide debate in Albany; talking points to equip allies for effective advocacy; and video testimonials from terminally-ill persons, disabled people, and others whose life experiences have led them to speak out against doctor-assisted death. Significantly, the website also includes an action alert that allows New Yorkers to e-mail their legislators about this important issue.

In Honor of JJ Hanson

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JJ gave a priceless gift in dedicating his last precious years to speak against legalizing assisted suicide. His powerful voice came at a time of great need in a way that no one else’s could. His commitment moved many people and will never be forgotten.

A news article, J.J. Hanson, aide to two New York governors, dies at 36, reflected on his life and passing. The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide issued the following press release.

Alliance Mourns The Passing of J.J. Hanson

Albany, NY – On December 30, 2017, following a valiant battle with cancer, J.J. Hanson passed away surrounded by family and friends.

A U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq, J.J. was diagnosed with glioblastoma—an aggressive form of brain cancer—in May 2014. Thirty-three years of age at the time, J.J. was told that he had four months to live; however, he proved the doctors wrong. After J.J. underwent a grueling regimen of surgery, chemotherapy, and an experimental treatment, his cancer subsided.

Following his recovery, J.J. became a national advocate for the terminally ill. In his role as President of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, J.J. worked to prevent the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in New York and other states. J.J.’s experience with cancer, together with his professional background in government, equipped him to be a remarkably effective leader, communicator, and influencer. J.J. also created a blog to share information about his journey with glioblastoma; the blog, YouCantHurtSteel.com, derives its name from J.J.’s family motto, “You Can’t Hurt Steel.”

J.J. Hanson outlived his initial prognosis by more than three years, and his life story has been an encouragement and an inspiration to cancer survivors and many others across the country. He is survived by his wife, Kristen, and their two sons.

The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide mourns the passing of our treasured colleague and friend. We will miss J.J.’s leadership, his optimism, his selflessness, his tenacity, and his willingness to draw upon his own difficult experiences to advocate for others facing challenging medical problems. We can unequivocally say that J.J. Hanson’s life—despite its brevity—made the world a better place for those who will come after him.

W. Carol Cleigh: Bigotry in the BDTD (Better Dead Than Disabled) Movement

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I’ve been saying for years that the movement to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia is a loaded gun aimed directly at people with long-term disabilities (http://notdeadyet.org/2014/01/guest-blog-by-w-carol-cleigh-not-paying-attention.html). Though I usually value being proved correct, not so much in this case. But the blatant bigotry I’ve recently seen in that movement surprised even me.

I attended a training at the University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC). The UNCC Ethics Center is the North Carolina home of the Hemlock Society (which wants to be called by the euphemistic Compassion & Choices). Dan Carrigan, a professor there, president of C&C Carolina and founder of a new ‘Six Choices’ organization, openly promotes death for disabled people.

The training included ham-handed criticism of the belief that human life is sacred, but the openly ableist assertion that those who are ‘wheelchair bound’ or ‘bed bound’ are better off dead was breathtaking.

The presentation was supposed to teach ethics, but core material includes a detailed how-to guide, complete with pictures, of ‘six choices’ for getting rid of old, ill or disabled people without being arrested for murder. These include terminal sedation, a one-way trip to Switzerland, establishing residency in Oregon or one of the other states that allows death prescriptions, ‘voluntarily’ stopping food and fluids (VSED) and the ever-popular putting a plastic bag over the head (they call it ‘inert gas inhalation’). In case you’re counting, that’s only five ‘choices.’ The sixth, being a citizen of the Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg and opting for having the physician inject the poison, isn’t a ‘choice’ for us, but then it isn’t a choice for an increasing number of citizens of the Netherlands, Belgium or Luxembourg, as reports show that the number of those who die without request continues to grow (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa071143).

Despite the ridiculous nature of some of their ‘choices,’ extreme danger for disabled people lies here.

For now, at least, it might be somewhat difficult to talk a physician into terminal sedation of someone who is not imminently dying. That is subject to change though as medical ableism continues to grow, promoted by BDTD ideology. Families with means may get the idea that a trip to Switzerland or a sojourn in Oregon is worth the cost to be rid of their disabled ‘loved’ one. However, the ‘choices’ that pose the most risk for ordinary disabled people are VSED and ‘Inhalation of inert gas.’ The problem with both of these, as with all of this, is that it’s difficult to tell if the death was truly voluntary once the person who supposedly volunteered can no longer protest. Unfortunately, there is a presumption that death was voluntary in the case of old, ill or disabled victims and law-enforcement seldom if ever fully investigates these deaths (http://www.truedignity.org/assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-gradually-create-a-special-class-of-homicide-almost-never-investigated/). I’ve asked BDTD proponents many times how many disabled people murdered are too many and I’ve never received an answer. They seem quite comfortable promoting death for us all.

So, the BDTD movement is once again failing to hide the fact that they mean to include non-terminally ill disabled people in their program. They’re now openly putting out how-to guides to getting rid of inconvenient old, ill and disabled relatives knowing that most likely, they won’t even be investigated, much less punished for murder even if the person doesn’t want to die. – W. Carol Cleigh