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Don't be fooled by emotional rhetoric surrounding the right to die. See it for what it is. Needlessly premature death to lives worth living. . . . William Peace, who has been paralyzed for 30 years.

"Basically the eugenicists have found a new way to get what they want. Instead of herding us into camps to do away with the unwanted, they convince the unwanted to do away with themselves." . . . Internet Commenter.

PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"The [Supreme Court of Canada] judgment creates the potential for the most permissive and least restrictive criteria for assisted suicide in the world, putting persons with disabilities at serious risk." . . . A statement from the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (2015)

Vote as if your life depends on it . . . because it does. . . . Justin Dart, activist for people with disabilities.

We think equal rights should also mean equal rights to suicide prevention. . . . Diane Coleman, president of the disability-rights group Not Dead Yet.

Let us honor Connecticut's progressive tradition against discrimination by ensuring equal access to noncoercive suicide prevention services for old, ill, and disabled people, rather than offering suicide assistance. . . . disability community activist Stephen Mendelsohn (2015).

No matter how many safeguards go into the bill, we [people with disabilities] are going to be the collateral damage. . . . Cathy Ludlum (who has a neuromuscular disease that took away her ability to move) discussing the proposed 2015 Connecticut assisted-suicide bill.

It's always cheaper for us to die rather than be kept alive with needed services. . . . disability community activist John Kelly.

You never give a State power over innocent life because what starts as optional will inevitably become compulsory. . . . Internet comment.

Although Terri Schiavo's life may be over, the debate over the rights of incapacitated Americans is not over. Congress must right this wrong by ensuring that incapacitated Americans may not be deprived of their inalienable right to life without the assurance of the due process of law that our federal courts were established to protect. This will be Terri Schiavo's legacy. . . . U.S. Congressman Mike Pence (2005).

And, over time, [assisted suicide] kills the instinct, for caring for others in grave distress, that distinguishes human beings from other sentient creatures." . . . writer George Weigel in 2016

my suffering is sometimes unbearable, but the faith my loved ones have in me makes me able to bear it. Don't take that away, by legitimising assisted suicide as the right, and gracious choice." . . . poet, artist, and disability rights proponent Jamie Hale in 2018

"The two most common reasons people asked to be killed by (MAiD) were loss of ability to engage in meaningful life activities and loss of ability to perform activities of daily living. These are disability-related concerns, underlining the reality that pain is not the primary reason people ask to be killed." . . . Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Commenting on the 2020 Health Canada Euthanasia (MAiD) Report

         

TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO CASE

Links to Life Report Interview of Bobby Schindler on His Sister Terri Schiavo's Story & End of Life Issues

Other Terri Schiavo Links

KATE ADAMSON CASE

"The subtle pressures to go along to avoid costly treatments can easily lead to acquiescence, especially if the patient is confused. Believe me, we may say anything under the influence of pain or morphine or in the isolation of an ICU." ... Ben Mattlin is the author of Miracle Boy Grows Up: How the Disability Rights Revolution Saved My Sanity.

"... I have been diagnosed as imminently terminal three times since my accident. Each time, my lifespan was supposed to be measured in days. The difference is, all three times, every medical effort was made to save me. Physicians, insurance companies always thought that way.. They put the patient first an worried about the cost later. Adding legalized PAS (physician assisted suicide) in, could be the last building block in the destruction of that system. ... When the cost factor is added in, our odds get rapidly worse. With health care professionals being forced by insurance companies/bureaucracies to balance cutting costs against what's in the best interest of their patient, add in legalized PAS and the possibility of being offered a cheap end to your life as opposed to an astronomically expensive long term plan of treatment is all to real." ... from a statement by a man with a disability.

It was yet another attempt to show that the life of a disabled person has no value. ... wheelchair and ventilator-dependent author Jason Mitchener commenting on the movie "Million Dollar Baby"

"Once the syringe-bearing genie is out of the bottle, who can say what homicidal wonders he may next perform?" ... Don Feder in A Jewish Conservative Looks at Pagan America

"Recently there was a conference at a local nursing home. The elderly residents had been promised a nice afternoon discussion complete with tea and cookies. Instead they were told, by the visiting 'experts', that maybe they were becoming a burden to their loved ones. Maybe they should consider forgoing all medical care. I watched tears well up in the eyes of many of the elderly residents. They left the conference room that day with a heavy burden of guilt - just because they were not yet ready to die." ... advocacy journalist Rosemarie Jackowski in an article on the 2013 assisted-suicide bill in Vermont.

"You may not be interested in euthanasia, but euthanasia is interested in you" ... web commentator modifying the Leon Trotsky quotation, You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.

Regarding the "safeguard" that a proposed 2014 UK assisted suicide bill would only be allowed for people with six months to live, Baroness Campbell, who has muscular atrophy, said: I have been given six months to live probably about five times in my life."


The US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached by calling 800-273-8255. For those who don't want to speak to a counselor, there's also a national Crisis Text Line available 24/7 by texting "home" to 741741.