- Data from places where assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal show that people who are not eligible are often killed anyway. Recent examples in Belgium include Eddy and Mark Verbessen, 45-year-old deaf twins who asked for euthanasia because their vision was failing [source: Huffington Post], and a woman who was euthanized after being sexually assaulted by the psychiatrist who was treating her for anorexia [source: National Post]. In Oregon, annual reports show that at least one person outlives the six-month “terminal illness” cutoff each year. See, for example, the report from 2012: Oregon Public Health Division, Center for Health Statistics, Oregon Health Authority (2012), Oregon Death with Dignity Act: data summary 2012, State of Oregon, Portland.
- It is also dangerous to use the same standards for evaluating suicide requests submitted by someone with a disability as for a non-disabled person. Prejudices about quality of life with a disability shape the responses of medical staff and the general public when talking about these issues, and when responding to a disabled person who wants to kill himself. People assume that disabled people “need help” to kill themselves, that life with a disability is worse than death, and that having a disability means a life without happiness, love or satisfaction. Our lives include more than constant pain and suffering.
- Finally, the effects of discrimination on people with disabilities often go unrecognized. People with disabilities already have fewer choices regarding where and how they live, personal assistance and health care they will receive, and options for transportation and work. By refusing to acknowledge and correct this discrimination, society creates the miserable conditions that drive people with disabilities to want to kill themselves.
Toujours Vivant | Not Dead Yet
