Disability advocates in Albany and Rochester led reactions to the reintroduction of assisted suicide bills in New York on Monday, January 23^rd.

Terminal patients ask New York to legalize help with dying (WHAM Cha 13) included footage from Not Dead Yet’s 1997 U.S. Supreme Court rally against assisted suicide in the case brought by Rochester’s Dr. Tim Quill. Many of us were there, including NDY’s new Director of Minority Outreach, Anita Cameron, shown in video and quoted in Monday’s story.

As the US Supreme Court took up the life and death issue, busloads of disabled people from Rochester were among the hundreds protesting outside. “We were all there for one purpose. To speak out against it,” said Anita Cameron, who was there.

Cameron has MS and suffers a degenerative brain disorder that is stealing away her motor functions. She also works with a group called “Not Dead Yet.” “Society almost teaches that you’re being brave and unselfish if you choose to kill yourself,” she told 13WHAM’s Jane Flasch. . . .

Some people who are disabled see it as promoting a “better dead than disabled” mindset. “These laws are inherently discriminatory against people with disabilities. But I can live a great life as a person with a disability without being a burden,” said Cameron.

Lawmakers in Albany revisit ‘aid in dying’ bill (WROC Cha 8) included both video and an article:

Advocates were in Albany on Monday to reintroduce a bill that would allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults to end their own lives – a bill that’s not sitting well with some local disability rights advocates.

“Our concern is that people who are already in a depressed state because of the cancer or other experiences they’re having, instead of receiving help to live, they’re being given help to die,” said Stephanie Woodward, of the Center for Disability Rights..

The bill would only apply to those who are expected to live fewer than 6 months, but Woodward says she fears the bill leaves room for issues to arise.

“Another fear is that people will be coerced or abused into assisted suicides,” she said.

Woodward says she believes the argument of preventing pain in the terminally ill is not a valid one.

“It’s not necessary, because we have enough pain treatment that no one should have to die in pain,” Woodward said.

Advocates for aid in dying reintroduce bill (Albany Times Union) stated:

But a few opponents of the legislation said Monday that no modification could make physician-assisted suicide safe enough to win their support. They fear patients may be pressured to choose aid in dying or fall prey to heirs seeking speedier access to their inheritance.

Insurance companies might encourage policyholders to take advantage of such a law to reduce medical expenses, they said.

“There’s no way to open this door just enough,” said Adam Prizio, government affairs manager for the Center for Disability Rights. “No matter where you open it, some number of people with disabilities will be killed through coercion, through abuse, or through insurance companies trying to save money.”

Finally, NY again considers doctor-assisted suicide (Journal News) reported:

Julie Farrar, a policy fellow for the Center for Disability Rights Inc., which has offices across upstate, contended the bill doesn’t have enough protections in place to prevent wrongdoing, especially when it comes to families who may be financially incentivized to end a family member’s life due to rising medical costs.

“I’m very wary of physicians being give the legal immunity and right to prescribe a drug or mixture of drugs to end a patient’s life,” she said.

Some assisted suicide bill proponents try to make it seem that disability advocates are fighting against terminally ill people. Actually, we are fighting for everyone. Think of us as the canaries in the coal mine – we live on the front lines of a health care system that is too often focused more on money than care. We know how easy it is for protections to fail, for mistakes to be made, for pressures to be felt. But, unlike the proverbial canaries, we are not expendable, and neither is anyone.

Hello, I’m Anita Cameron, Director of Minority Outreach. Though I’m a new employee, I’m no stranger to Not Dead Yet. I’ve been a member almost since its inception and served on the Board of Directors for two years.

I live at the intersection of a number of communities. As a Black disabled lesbian, the work of Not Dead Yet resonates with me and I am honored to serve in this position. My 36 years of work for social justice and change, including 31 years of disability advocacy and activism, will be a great asset in my new position.

The position of Director of Minority Outreach was created because Not Dead Yet recognizes that minority/marginalized communities of people with disabilities are more vulnerable to ableist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and ageist practices inherent in our healthcare system, which places us at a greater risk of coercion into physician assisted suicide.

My job is to reach out to, and organize disabled people within communities of color, the LGBT community and other minority communities, primarily in New York State, to educate them about the dangers of assisted suicide legislation from the perspective of the disability community. I will also work with state legislators, making them aware of any such legislation and urging them to vote no when it comes to the floor of the Assembly or the Senate.

I’ll be working closely with the Advocacy and Policy teams at the Center for Disability Rights in Rochester and Albany, and will be conducting research and writing blogs, op-eds, media pieces and webinars. Look for those in the very near future!

I’ll also participate in national conference calls and multi-state outreach related to the work of Not Dead Yet.

Finally, I will represent Not Dead Yet on the Task Force on Racism convened by the National Disability Leadership Alliance.

With the introduction of new assisted suicide legislation in both the New York State Assembly and Senate, my arrival could not have come at a more important time. I am looking forward to rolling up my sleeves and beginning the hard, yet vitally important work to combat the “better dead than disabled” mindset and rhetoric that is prevalent in our society.