[For a PDF version of this article, go HERE.] I have an advanced neuromuscular disability. Six years ago, I went into respiratory failure. I now use a ventilator with a CPAP mask about 22 hours a day, without which I would die in a short time. As a disabled person who depends on life-sustaining treatment, … Continue reading NALA Facts & Findings: Assisted Suicide Laws and Ableism by Diane Coleman, J.D.
Buffalo News published Diane Coleman’s letter (12/27/21) describing how “Assisted Suicide Puts Pressure On The Elderly And Disabled” – that’s the title that the NY Alliance Against Assisted Suicide correctly gave it. This letter is about the deadly mix between our profit-driven health care system and legalizing assisted suicide – will insurers do the right thing … Continue reading Diane Coleman Letter Published in Buffalo News
A Boston University News Service article, Medical aid in dying bills split Massachusetts once again, yesterday extensively quoted John Kelly, NDY’s New England Regional Director, as well as Ruthie Poole, President of the statewide organization M-POWER. While their disability rights based concerns about the Massachusetts assisted suicide bill should have been featured much earlier in … Continue reading John Kelly and Ruthie Poole Quoted On Disability Opposition To Assisted Suicide Bill
In recognition of the December 3rd International Day of Disabled Persons, NDY posts the following statements by United Nations experts contained in a press release issued earlier this year. Disability is not a reason to sanction medically assisted dying – UN experts GENEVA (25 January 2021) – UN human rights experts today expressed alarm at … Continue reading U.N. Experts Say Disability Is Not A Reason To Sanction Medically Assisted Dying
On November 2, Newsweek published an excellent op-ed by Matt Valliere, Executive Director of the Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF), entitled The Brutal, Tragic, Consequences of Quality of Life Judgements. Though PRAF’s mission is focused on opposing assisted suicide laws, the op-ed does an uncommonly good job discussing other discriminatory and harmful medical practices that … Continue reading Matt Valliere On the Many Harms of Medical Quality of Life Judgments
