{"id":4896,"date":"2020-05-02T21:43:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-02T21:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.tvndy.ca\/faq\/whats-disability-got-to-do-with-it-isnt-assisted-suicide-only-for-people-who-are-terminally-ill\/"},"modified":"2020-07-21T18:32:39","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T18:32:39","slug":"whats-disability-got-to-do-with-it-isnt-assisted-suicide-only-for-people-who-are-terminally-ill","status":"publish","type":"faq","link":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/faq\/whats-disability-got-to-do-with-it-isnt-assisted-suicide-only-for-people-who-are-terminally-ill\/","title":{"rendered":"2. What\u2019s disability got to do with it? Isn\u2019t assisted suicide only for people who are terminally ill?"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Practically all people with \u201cterminal illness\u201d (six months or less to live) have disabilities.<\/li>\n<li>In every place where assisted suicide is supposed to be only for people who are \u201cterminally ill,\u201d people who are not \u201cterminally ill\u201d are routinely helped to die.<\/li>\n<li>It is very hard to predict how long someone will live, and doctors sometimes make incorrect diagnoses.\u00a0 We all know someone who has \u201cbeaten the odds\u201d and lived much longer than doctors expected.\u00a0 In fact, reports from Oregon Public Health on that state\u2019s \u201cdeath with dignity\u201d law show that during every year since the program began, people have outlived the six-month cut-off. See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/oha\/PH\/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES\/EVALUATIONRESEARCH\/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT\/Documents\/year15.pdf\">Oregon Public Health Division, Center for Health Statistics, Oregon Health Authority (2012), Oregon Death with Dignity Act: data summary 2012, State of Oregon, Portland.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Under most assisted suicide laws, people with chronic illness and disability are also eligible for assisted suicide.<\/li>\n<li>In places where assisted suicide is legal, standards for who is eligible have grown more and more relaxed.\u00a0 For example, in the Netherlands, people who are old or simply \u201ctired of life\u201d can have a mobile euthanasia unit come to their home. \u00a0In\u00a0Belgium,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2013\/01\/14\/marc-eddy-verbessem-belgium-euthanasia_n_2472320.html\">two deaf men were given euthanasia in 2013<\/a>\u00a0because they were losing their sight, and believed that being deaf\/blind would be worse than dying. [Source: Huffington Post]<\/li>\n<li>People with disabilities are in a \u201chigh-risk\u201d category because minor problems can \u2013 and often do \u2013 become life-threatening.\u00a0 In the hospital, people with disabilities are often badgered to sign \u201cDo Not Resuscitate\u201d orders or encouraged to refuse treatment.<\/li>\n<li>Nearly all end-of-life care issues \u2013 such as access to good health care and pain relief, in-home personal care, peer counseling, and family supports \u2013 have been disability rights issues for decades.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n   ","protected":false},"author":1,"template":"","faq_groups":[],"class_list":["post-4896","faq","type-faq","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs\/4896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faqs"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faq"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"faq-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvndy.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faq_groups?post=4896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}