“I am bedridden and use a wheelchair… Will I be judged as a person whose life is not worth living?”

Caruso has an extremely rare genetic disease: Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP), which causes bone growth in muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissues essentially transforming them to bone. She has struggled against demoralization in the face of quiet discrimination. Some consider her life to be undignified and her care needs a burden to others. Caruso fears that if assisted suicide is legal, others will believe even more that her life is one not worth living.

“Losing of dignity” and “fear of being a burden” are in the top 4 reasons for assisted suicide requests in Oregon. Many persons living with disabilities see that social acceptance of assisted suicide tells them that a life with a disability is a fate worse than death.