The majority of people with disabilities has considered the “End of Life Options Act,” or what ever it is being called this year, otherwise known as physician prescribed suicide.
The National Council on Disability came out with a report on Oct. 9 about the dangers of assisted suicide laws for people with disabilities. The council clearly opposes medical assisted suicide in this extensive report.
There are many national disability rights groups that oppose assisted suicide including but not limited to ADAPT, American Association of People with Disabilities, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, National Council on Independent Living, TASH and ARC of the United States.
My 32-year-old daughter Brigitte and I also testified at the Delaware hearing on HB 140. Brigitte has quadriplegic cerebral palsy, profound cognitive disabilities, epilepsy, chronic pain and multiple other medical disabilities. I have been a disability rights activist for 32 years.
I am vehemently opposed to HB 140…
Able-bodied people cannot tolerate the prospect of becoming a person with a disability and developing dependencies on another person. They are so appalled at the loss of “dignity” this dependency brings that suicide is preferable to disability.
It goes like this, “I would rather die right now by a prescription for suicide than to lose all dignity and turn into one of those people with disabilities for six months or less.”
Assisted suicide for this rationale supports the doctrine of better off dead than disabled…
Read more at Delaware Online…