Disability groups in New York and Illinois are in a fight for lives. They’re suing to prevent the implementation of physician-assisted suicide statutes already passed by the legislatures in their states.
The plaintiffs in the New York court action include Brooklyn Center for the Independence of the Disabled (BCID), Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley (ILCHV), Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL), Self-Initiated Living Options (SILO), and two individuals with disabilities, Anita Cameron and Jose Hernandez. United Spinal Association and Not Dead Yet are also plaintiffs, as they have been in suits in five states to end the practice of physicians assisting suicide.
Who agrees with the plaintiffs in New York and other states?
The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest professional organization of physicians and medical students in the United States, opposes physician-assisted suicide. The AMA’s Code of Medical Ethics states “physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control and would pose serious societal risks.”
A key reason cited by the AMA for its opposition to physicians assisting suicidal patients to kill themselves is concern that people with disabilities would be particularly vulnerable. Severely disabled people, overwhelmed by managing healthcare, homecare shortages, housing problems, access to appropriate care and equipment, dependent on family may be appropriately depressed. New, devastating injuries, leaving people isolated, immobile and dependent can cause suicidal ideation.
Without medical intervention, quadriplegics are likely to die within six months. Those expected to live six months or less, under the New York law, can opt for medically prescribed suicide. If a doctor thinks life as a quad is not worth living, they are free to assist in death. That same doctor would divert an able-bodied suicidal patient to a suicide prevention program, i.e., the doctor’s attitude about quality of life with a disability would be the reason for the prescription of lethal drugs.
The AMA and the plaintiffs are also concerned about the societal “slippery slope” created by the practice of doctors assisting suicide. In New York it is a crime to help someone commit suicide. The only exception is the Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) law, passed last year, which permits physicians to help certain patients kill themselves. Even the name Medical Aid in Dying diverts attention from the fact that it’s a suicidal act.
This can become a slippery slope. For example, physicians determine that an individual with a disability wants to die and has six months or less to live. Lethal medication is prescribed and used and the individual dies. No criminal charges can be brought. An identically disabled person is killed by a relative, as an act of perceived mercy, or out of greed, wanting to inherit faster than waiting while the individual exhausted their savings on care. The relative is arrested and charged but contends that the charge of manslaughter is excessive since a doctor would have given the patient an identical lethal dose. The immorality of the act of killing is softened by the existence physician-assisted suicide.
People with disabilities that are not curable have stated for decades that some in the medical profession give up on them. Depressed people with disabilities should be counselled, steered away from suicide and provided appropriate care and equipment so they can live meaningful lives in the community, not killed.
Opinions expressed are solely those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Able News at The Viscardi Center and/or The Viscardi Center.