From the New York Association on Independent Living, the New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide, and the Patients Rights Action Fund:
Please take a few minutes to send a message today to your legislator asking them to oppose assisted suicide using the form on our website.
We are asking them to vote NO on assisted suicide (A995 & S2445) because suicide is not medical care.
New Yorkers deserve better access to quality care, such as in-home hospice and palliative care, not an ill-conceived public policy that puts patients at risk of mistakes, coercion, and abuse.
Here are some of the reasons why they must vote NO to assisted suicide:
Patients have been denied coverage for lifesaving treatment and offered assisted suicide instead.
Pain and suffering, or even concern about it, never make it into the top 5 reasons why patients die by assisted suicide in Oregon. Rather, the most commonly cited reasons are disability related concerns, which is why the National Council on Disability and national disability groups reject assisted suicide, including NCIL, AAPD, ADAPT, DREDF, and United Spinal.
Mental conditions are ignored and depressed patients receive the lethal medications.
Doctors make mistakes and patients who are not dying receive the prescription drugs.
We have a suicide epidemic in this country and overall general suicide rates have increased in Oregon since it’s been legalized.
Assisted suicide laws abandon vulnerable patients and they impact everyone’s end of life care. Lawmakers must focus their efforts on improving multidisciplinary care for terminal patients, which truly addresses patients’ concerns at the end of life instead of removing society’s care at a time when it’s needed most.
Please fill out the form on our website and urge your legislator to reject this dangerous public policy (A995 & S2445) and vote NO on assisted suicide.
If you are interested in disability advocacy issues like this one, contact Colleen Downs, Systems Advocate at:
518-563-9058 Ext. 110
The Mission of the North Country Center for Independence is to help people with disabilities to live more independent and productive lives, and promote better policies and community understanding of disability issues. NCCI serves people with disabilities, families, and the community on issues related to physical and mental disabilities. NCCI is led and staffed mostly by people with disabilities. It is one of the 41 Independent Living Centers in New York State. There are also hundreds of similar centers throughout the United States. NCCI serves Clinton and Essex Counties, New York.