The letter in italics below was published in the Hawaii Free Press on Feb 15, 2011. It provides further evidence of our contention that people with disabilities are not the only people whose lives are devalued. The lives of people with serious illness and people with old age are also considered not worth living by some in the medical profession. This devaluation leads to subtle … [Read more...] about Where Assisted Suicide Legal, There is Pressure to Die: a Letter from Oregon
True Dignity
Vermont Must Work to Prevent Suicide among All Age Groups, Not Just Teens
We have recently heard from several proponents of assisted suicide that concerns about possible suicide contagion in Oregon are unfounded because the youth suicide rate there has gone down. Here is a link to the latest report of the Oregon Health Division on suicide in that state: … [Read more...] about Vermont Must Work to Prevent Suicide among All Age Groups, Not Just Teens
People Supporting Assisted Suicide Laws Often Believe They Require Doctors to Screen All Patients for Depression: They Do Not
It is well-known that the treatable mental illness of depression causes suicidal thoughts, so much so that such thoughts are considered an identifying characteristic of depression for diagnostic purposes (http://www.mental-health-today.com/dep/dsm.htm). Advocates for assisted suicide are misinformed, and misinform others, when they assert that depressed people are … [Read more...] about People Supporting Assisted Suicide Laws Often Believe They Require Doctors to Screen All Patients for Depression: They Do Not
Letter to the Bennington Banner: Support Senator Sears on this issue (Killing Assisted Suicide)
The letter below was published in today's Bennington Banner. We agree wholeheartedly with its call to support Senator Sears. True Dignity does not, however, support the letter-writer’s call for a referendum on assisted suicide. That would set off a year of ferocious campaigning on an issue that a May 2011 Gallup's 2011 Values and Beliefs poll found to be "the most … [Read more...] about Letter to the Bennington Banner: Support Senator Sears on this issue (Killing Assisted Suicide)
The Past Week
Tomorrow will mark a week since Senators Dick Sears (D-Bennington), the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator John Campbell (D-Windsor), the Senate Pro Tem, made a decision not to bring S 103, the bill that would have legalized assisted suicide, to any vote. The day after the Judiciary Committee held hearings on the bill, Alice Nitka (D-Windsor), one of the three … [Read more...] about The Past Week