{"id":14350,"date":"2013-10-09T10:35:41","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T23:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?p=14350"},"modified":"2013-10-09T10:35:41","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T23:35:41","slug":"depression-disability-safe-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/2013\/10\/09\/depression-disability-safe-euthanasia\/","title":{"rendered":"Depression, disability & ‘safe’ euthanasia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Excellent research based article by Hanna Graham of the University of Tasmania\u00a0in yesterday’s The Advocate<\/a> newspaper. In part,<\/p>\n

Many disability advocates oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide on the grounds that it has adverse implications for people with disabilities, whether or not they are eligible for it.<\/em><\/p>\n

People who choose to live with symptoms and conditions that others call `intolerable suffering’ and `poor quality of life’ may find pro-euthanasia messages that some people are `better off dead’ and `some lives are not worth living’ offensive and stigmatising.<\/em><\/p>\n

Acclaimed British paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson recently described assisted suicide as “a chilling prospect for disabled people” (The Times, 23\/09\/2013).<\/em><\/p>\n

She argues that legalising it “reinforces prejudices for people with disabilities” and makes them “afraid of a law that would offer a lesser standard of protection to seriously ill people than to others.”<\/em><\/p>\n

James McGaughey, Executive Director of the Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities in Connecticut agrees that disability advocates are “deeply concerned”, saying “the disability rights movement [is] punctuated with stories of individuals who “just wanted to die” before coming to realise they could still lead good, contributing lives.<\/em><\/p>\n

Advocates worry that some people would never get to that realisation if assisted suicide becomes legal.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The conclusion,<\/p>\n

Saying the proposed Tasmanian Voluntary Assisted Dying model is based on Oregon, Belgium and the Netherlands, while denying that the euthanasia of vulnerable people could happen here means proponents may be willing to downplay or ignore what is already happening elsewhere.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
<\/em><\/em>Thoughtful discussions of euthanasia and vulnerability need to extend deeper and further than the narrow and uncomplicated view that this debate is simply about a purported individual `right to die.’<\/em>A compelling evidence-based case for changing the law has not been produced in Tasmania.<\/em><\/p>\n

The risks of proceeding with the proposed model are not justified.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Complete article, Depression, disability and ‘safe’ euthanasia<\/a>\u00a0 also the Researchers’ Report, A Response to Giddings & McKim\u2019s euthanasia proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Excellent research based article by Hanna Graham of the University of Tasmania\u00a0in yesterday’s The Advocate newspaper. In part, Many disability advocates oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide on the grounds that it has adverse implications for people with disabilities, whether or … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14350"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14362,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14350\/revisions\/14362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}