Friday, February 26, 2010

Brit Assisted Suicide Legal Guidelines Bad News for the Disabled and the Vulnerable

Reactions to the just-released Brit guidelines are coming thick and fast right now.


John Keown over at The Cornerstone Group has a good backgrounder if you need to catch up on how things have gone in the UK lately, in his piece "Assisted Dying," the DPP and the Dutch.


Clare Lewis, a UK disability advocate, gets it right, I think, because the guidelines, in attempting to clarify UK law on assisted suicide, has actually made things worse, especially for people with disabilities:
Knock down the nursing homes - we need more graveyards, because around four fifths of the public will have its wish to get rid of Granny Burden with a guaranteed British InJustice System approved getaway vehicle. more
Lewis has a companion piece in today's UK Independent Disabled people need assistance to live, not die:
There is a saying among disabled people that goes: "If it hurts, we know we're alive". Like most humans our natural instinct is not merely to survive but to flourish. For this we need assistance to live, not die. Disabled people suffer so much neglect, isolation, exclusion and discrimination that some volunteer for euthanasia. But this is not the only way to address suffering. What about assistance to live? more
In spite of what the pro-death folks say, the Irish Independent gets it right, that not only do the guidelines loosen the restrictions around helping someone kill themselves, but that it's a stepping-stone to the ultimate - legalized euthanasia on demand, anytime, anywhere, for an reason:
'Back-door euthanasia' fears over rules on assisted suicide
CONTROVERSIAL rules on prosecuting assisted suicide cases could lead to "back-door euthanasia" and must be fully debated, British MPs warned yesterday. more

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