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In This Issue
New Article Explaining the Dangers of Legalizing Assisted Suicide
Dear Friends,
A major article opposing the legalization of assisted suicide appears in a special January 2010 issue of the Disability and Health Journal (Volume 3, Issue 1). In "Killing Us Softly: The Dangers of Legalizing Assisted Suicide," DREDF Policy Analyst Marilyn Golden and former DREDF Research Associate Tyler Zoanni provide a comprehensive overview of why legalizing assisted suicide would result in dangerous public policy
DREDF, along with numerous other nationally prominent disability organizations, opposes the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. The disability community bases its opposition on the dangers to people with disabilities and the devaluation of disabled peoples' lives that result from legalized assisted suicide. Further, our opposition stems from the secrecy in which assisted suicide operates today, in states where it is legal; the lack of robust oversight and the absence of investigation of abuse; the reality of who uses it; the dangers of legalization to further erode the quality of the U.S. health care system; and its potential for other significant harms. Legalization of assisted suicide would actually restrict choice and self-determination. How voluntary can assisted suicide really be? How many will be adversely affected? The article explains these important issues.
The Disability and Health Journal special issue, "A Disability Perspective on the Issue of Physician Assisted Suicide," also includes articles by other disability advocates as well as academics, attorneys, and scholars. As journal editor Suzanne McDermott writes, "The articles emerged during the two years that the American Public Health Association [APHA] struggled with a proposal to adopt a policy on assisted suicide.... I personally went from seeing this issue as a personal right to understanding that assisted suicide is at the heart of the disability movement.... I encourage you to read this important issue of Disability and Health Journal with an open mind. The APHA did not support the Disability Section’s opposition to an assisted suicide policy.... There will be many states in the next decade that ... consider the introduction of laws to legalize assisted suicide. The issues are complex.... Readers ... can use … this edition of the journal to help them understand the issues that will be debated in their state legislatures" (emphasis added).
Almost half the states have rejected the legalization of assisted suicide. It is legal today in Oregon, Washington state, and Montana. DREDF has actively opposed its legalization in many states.
Learn more about why DREDF opposes the legalization of assisted suicide on our redesigned and updated web page.
© 2010
Resources
DREDF on Assisted Suicide, redesigned and updated
Not Dead Yet (NDY)
The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (ITF)
Physicians for Compassionate Care Educational Foundation (PCCEF)
Californians Against Assisted Suicide
Combined Federal Campaign #11944
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CONTACT DREDF:
info@dredf.org
www.dredf.org
2212 Sixth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510-644-2555