Latest Coverage on Assisted Suicide
HIGHLIGHT PIECES OF THE WEEK
Matt Vallière, Executive Director of Patients’ Rights Action Fund, writes, “Assisted suicide is anything but compassionate for vulnerable people, like the tragic story of my friend with anorexia, Jane Allen, which shows how assisted suicide laws threaten the lives of the young and curable.”
James Reinl, US Senior Reporter at the Daily Mail, writes, “The horrifying case of Jane — who died from natural causes soon after her father intervened to save her — is now at the center of a national firestorm, as Colorado emerges as the unlikely epicenter of a terrifying question: should sufferers of psychiatric disorders like anorexia be greenlighted for medically assisted suicide?”
Barbara Lyons and Jessica Rodgers, Special Projects Coordinator and Coalitions Director of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, will walk you through what is happening with assisted suicide in the states. The fight for patients’ rights is happening right now in state legislatures across the country. This State Status Update Webinar will equip you with the knowledge you need to understand what’s at stake and how you can help.
The Sundance Award Winning Film, LIFE AFTER brings together the missing voices of the disability community in the ongoing debate about assisted dying, uncovering shocking stories of disabled people dying prematurely. Reid Davenport exposes the intersection of systemic failures and personal autonomy, challenging the idea that assisted dying always represents a free choice, revealing how it can sometimes be seen as the only option. The film is available for viewing until October 13th.
Kathleen DeMers states, “Legalized assisted suicide can tempt caregivers to put pressure on frail, terminally ill patients to consent to kill themselves. People in despair and without sufficient resources may want to please their caregivers and agree to take deadly drugs… We try to help people in pain or mental distress, and we must improve end-of-life care. We can do better than death assisted by others and sanctioned by our state.”
Dawn Russell of Atlantis ADAPT in Denver, Colorado shares the story of a young member of her organization who died by assisted suicide. This heartbreaking recounting reveals why Colorado’s assisted suicide law is dangerous, discriminatory, and must be overturned. Watch by clicking above or the link below.
Meghan Schrader, Academic Enrichment Assistant at the E4Texas program at the University of Texas at Austin, is interviewed by Amanda Achtman on the dangers of assisted suicide for people with disability. She states, “Marginalized people shouldn’t have to live in a society where doctors suggest that they kill themselves so that the proponents can plan their death like they planned.”
Daily Wire: states, “The House of Lords has the power to prevent Parliament from enacting what one of its members called a ‘legislative embodiment of a suicide influencer.’ They’re defending all of us – and especially the most vulnerable – in fighting this battle.”
Kathleen DeMers states, “Legalized assisted suicide can tempt caregivers to put pressure on frail, terminally ill patients to consent to kill themselves. People in despair and without sufficient resources may want to please their caregivers and agree to take deadly drugs… We try to help people in pain or mental distress, and we must improve end-of-life care. We can do better than death assisted by others and sanctioned by our state.”
Ariel McDowell, a correspondent for the Federalist, states “Compulsion from an insurance company is an incentive most people would find obviously problematic, whereas helplessness and pain are cited as legitimate. However, there will always be other inevitable pressures present towards the end of life, such as financial advantage, emotional duress, or mere preference. Where do we draw the line?” She also interviews Stephanie Packer, Matt Vallière, and Dr. Brian Callister.
Esther Addley, senior news writer, writes, “If passed, this bill will signal that we are a society that believes that some lives are not worth living. It is the role of this house to scrutinise, but there are no amendments to this bill that can safeguard us completely from its negative effects.”
Trudo Lemmens, Professor in Health Law and Policy at the University of Toronto, states, “The undervaluing of disabled people’s quality of life appears to influence how providers deem ‘choice’ as inherently autonomous. And motivations that sometimes drive medical malpractice may influence assisted suicide… criteria are vague and open-ended; standards, ill-defined. Little wonder no one has so far been held criminally accountable for what remains a criminal-code exemption for murder and aiding suicide.”
Kathleen DeMers states, “Legalized assisted suicide can tempt caregivers to put pressure on frail, terminally ill patients to consent to kill themselves. People in despair and without sufficient resources may want to please their caregivers and agree to take deadly drugs… We try to help people in pain or mental distress, and we must improve end-of-life care. We can do better than death assisted by others and sanctioned by our state.”
Dr. Gerald L. Peer, anesthesiologist and pain management physician, writes, “There are good reasons to keep physician-assisted suicide illegal in New York. Uncontrolled pain in the terminally ill is a call for better pain management and soulful counseling – not for [assisted suicide].”
Dr. Ramona Coelho, family physician in Ontario, writes, “Sadly, many [assisted suicide] deaths are driven by untreated suffering: isolation, feelings of being a burden, and lack of care. Ableism and ageism play a role, with some assessors judging certain lives as less worthy of living. Disability is often equated with illness, yet disabled individuals are members of a community recognized under the UN human rights standards, and their community faces systemic barriers.”
Mark Komrad, clinical professor of psychiatry, answers these questions in this podcast, “What can the UK learn from flawed safeguards in Oregon’s model of assisted suicide, where the law has expanded and where financial considerations often outweigh ethical concerns, creating a troubling precedent in medical practice?”
Kathleen DeMers states, “Legalized assisted suicide can tempt caregivers to put pressure on frail, terminally ill patients to consent to kill themselves. People in despair and without sufficient resources may want to please their caregivers and agree to take deadly drugs… We try to help people in pain or mental distress, and we must improve end-of-life care. We can do better than death assisted by others and sanctioned by our state.”
Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe Columnist, writes “When physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia are legalized, guardrails soon collapse. Legislators may promise ‘state-of-the-art safeguards,’ but those promises are illusory. Oversight fails. Death is approved even for individuals whose condition is not terminal. Eligibility standards stretch until they vanish. And society grows inured to the idea that medical providers should help people die.”
Dan Kennedy, professor at Northeastern University’s School of Journalism, writes, “A system that began with allowing terminally ill people in their final days of life to opt out of the pain and suffering they were experiencing has devolved into something entirely different, with people choosing to die because they are depressed, because they’re burdened with high medical bills, or just because the Canadian law places patient autonomy ahead of all other values.”
Ari Weitzman, managing editor of Tangle, writes, “Canada’s death rate through [assisted suicide] is surpassed globally by the Netherlands alone, and unlike its European counterparts, Canada’s death rates through [assisted suicide] are rising. Meanwhile, its Parliament is currently considering expanding access to minors and the mentally ill. I don’t see societal progress; I see a country rushing to normalize a willingness to die.”
Disability Rights UK, says, “The Assisted Dying Bill raises complex ethical, legal, and social issues, especially concerning individuals with learning disabilities and their mental capacity. Accessing mental capacity in individuals with learning disabilities is complex and presents significant challenges. The Mental Health Act recommendations can be conflicting and open to interpretation and abuse, providing no failproof safeguard for the vulnerable.”
The Washington Examiner Editorial Board states, “As assisted suicide spreads, the risk grows that vulnerable people, those feeling like burdens or facing financial strain, will be nudged toward death rather than helped to live. This is not compassion — it’s the worst sort of cultural and moral failure.”