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

A Happy Holiday Message

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People sometimes wonder if the subjects Not Dead Yet deals with get us down. But the reality is that you lift us up – every time you share the message that we are NOT “better dead than disabled,” every time you fight for the healthcare and supports we need, every time you prove our inherent DIGNITY by fighting the indignities society too often heaps upon all the beautiful, proud disabled people we are. Thank you for all the forms of support you have given and please take comfort in knowing you have helped save lives.

If you are still looking to make a year end donation, please consider Not Dead Yet by going here. Wishing you love, peace and justice in the new year!

A Bipartisan Op-Ed on the Harms and Threats to Disabled People in the Tax Bill

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The Organizers Forum of the National Disability Leadership Alliance just held an educational call about the harms and threats to people with disabilities (and seniors) in the tax bill. As usual, the NDLA website will carry a recording and transcript of the call as soon as possible.

Shortly after the call, the U.S. House passed the latest version of the bill and sent it back to the Senate for its vote. Then, as if to bolster my spirits, I read an op-ed from Senator Bob Casey and former Governor Tom Ridge focused squarely on the negative disability impact of this bill. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and titled Bob Casey and Tom Ridge: Don’t disempower fellow citizens – Americans with disabilities deserve a chance to work and live in their communities, it begins:

We are two Pennsylvanians, members of two different political parties, but with a number of principles we whole-heartedly agree upon. Among them: Government should empower its citizens; political leaders should be servants to those who elect them; those who govern must be responsible stewards of public monies; and government should expand people’s freedom and enhance their right to self-determination, providing the means to take advantage of the great opportunities our state and country provide.

All of these principles are true and necessary for the trust and confidence of Pennsylvanians and Americans, but the last one is especially true for those with disabilities. Whether they are born with a disability or acquire it from disease, accident, age, or service to our country, our government should ensure that supports and services are in place so that citizens who have a disability are able to go to school, earn a living, live independently, and be full contributors to our communities.

That is why the two of us are concerned about the tax bill that was reported out of the congressional conference committee on Friday and will now work its way to a final vote in the Senate and House of Representatives.

To read the whole opinion piece, please go HERE. They specifically discuss concerns about future cuts to Medicaid home care that keeps us, seniors and disabled people, out of dangerous and costly institutions.

I used to hear that bills harming programs like Medicare, i.e. seniors, were “the third rail,” not to be touched if you want to be re-elected. But Medicare cuts are in the bill, so it appears that we need to remind them.