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A new campaign by disability rights
activists to limit the right to die
launches at Westminster on Thursday.
The campaign - called Not Dead Yet UK
Resistance - will be asking MPs to sign a
charter in support of its aims.
It says that disabled and terminally ill
people should enjoy the same legal
protection as everyone else.
Those in favour of assisted suicide argue
that opposing assisted suicide will condemn
terminally-ill people to suffer needlessly.
The Not Dead Yet UK's charter includes a
commitment to oppose any changes to
existing laws which state that assisting a
patient to commit suicide is illegal.
Later, the report says: The campaign group,
Dignity in Dying, says it actually agrees with
many of the aims of Not Dead Yet UK. "We too are
concerned about disabled people becoming
vulnerable to coercion," said the organisation's
chief executive, Sarah Wootton.
"That is why we campaign for a transparent and
safeguarded assisted dying law which would allow
assisted dying only for terminally ill, mentally
competent adults."
Ms Wootton says the law for which her group is
campaigning would apply only to disabled people
who were terminally ill, mentally competent but
suffering unbearably against their wishes.
"We do not support assisted suicide where someone
who is not terminally ill is helped to end their
life."
[Note: see the OpEd by the convener of Not Dead
Yet UK, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton, below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]
[There are stories in the Overflow section below.]
To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)
Britain: Disabled people need help to live, not die
[Guardian]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/03/disabled-people-assisted-suicide
Jane Campbell, Baroness Campbell of Surbiton,
writes: I've been a campaigner for most of
my life. I've not been alone. I've worked with
other disabled people and great allies in
parliament and elsewhere. Mostly, what we've
wanted for disabled people has been almost
universally applauded: better access, more
support, equal rights. Opposition came from those
holding the purse strings but we kept badgering
away, arguing that equality for disabled people
was good for everyone in society. By strength in
numbers we scored notable victories, such as the
Disability Discrimination Act. The wider public
accepted that it was wrong for disabled people to
receive inferior treatment.
Later, she says: Disabled and terminally ill people have had to deal with fear, prejudice
and discrimination since the beginning of time. Our lives have been
devalued by statements such as "he/she'd be better off dead". In recent
years, calls for a change to the law prohibiting assisted suicide have
grown louder and more frequent. They capitalise on fear. Fear of pain,
fear of loss of dignity, fear of being a burden. And, yes, fear of
witnessing those fears being felt by those we know and love. The solution
offered to the fear of disability and illness is final: suicide.
Yet suicide is not well thought of in our society. It is "committed" by
the mentally ill and those unable to face the future. In both cases,
society does all that it can to prevent suicidal thoughts being enacted.
Life is too precious to be solely entrusted to individual action. That
society is willing to protect us, even from ourselves in times of personal
crisis, defines our - and its - humanity.
Adams-Spink, Geoff. "'Right to live' group targets MPs". BBC News. Page last updated at 00:24 GMT, Thursday, 3 June 2010 01:24 UK. <news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8718581.stm>. BBC News, Television Centre, Wood Lane, London W12 7RJ.
Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.
assisted suicide
disability
Sarah Wootton
Dignity in Dying
Britain
Stories that EuthaNEWSia did not get to:
Australia: Internet filter bypass workshop comes to NT
[ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/02/2916182.htm?site=idx-nt
The voluntary euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke is bringing his
controversial workshop on bypassing internet filters to Darwin.
Dr Nitschke says his organisation has held workshops in every capital city
in the last two months and more than 1000 people have attended.
Western Australia: MP's euthanasia bill angers Christians
[The Brisbane Times]
http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/mps-euthanasia-bill-angers-christians-20100520-vnnd.html
A West Australian Greens MP has introduced a bill that will pave the way
for legalised euthanasia in the state, angering Christian groups.
Robin Chapple introduced the Voluntary Euthanasia Bill into parliament on
Thursday, which would allow any terminally ill West Australian over the
age of 21 and of "sound mind" to elect to be euthanised.
Under the bill, a request for the administration of euthanasia would only
apply to a person who has a terminal illness that will cause death within
two years and is experiencing considerable pain or debilitation.
The report concludes: However, the bill
will struggle to pass the upper house with the
Greens needing the support of the Liberal and
National parties.
Richard Egan from Christian group
FamilyVoice Australia claimed the bill would put the lives of
elderly and disabled people at risk.
Mr Egan claimed under the bill, doctors "keen on giving lethal injection"
would be able to help people who are not terminally ill, but suffering
depression, to commit suicide.
Dignitas probed after "patient suffering from paranoid schizophrenia was given suicide kit"
[Daily Mail]
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1282912/Dignitas-probed-patient-suffering-paranoid-schizophrenia-given-suicide-kit.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Strict assisted suicide laws in Switzerland state that each patient must
be of sound mind and able to understand the consequences of their actions.
But now details have emerged of a patient who was allegedly given a DIY
suicide kit prescribed by a Zurich gynaeologist despite suffering from
paranoid schizophrenia.
The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201006034524.
Mailed: Thursday, June 3, 2010 14:01:34 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>.
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