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Jan. 8, 1997
Memphians to hear Dr. C. Everett Koop Speak in Washington, D.C.
Memphians with disabilities are organizing in preparation for the vigil in Washington when the Supreme
Court starts oral arguments in the Washington v. Glucksberg, and Vacco v. Quill, cases deciding the fate of physician-
assisted suicide. Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General, announced that he will speak to an estimated
crowd of 20,000 Not Dead Yet members on the steps of the Supreme Court on Jan. 8 at 10 a.m.
Not Dead Yet is a grassroots organization, established by citizens with disabilities, and chronic illnesses, to oppose physician-assisted suicide. The vigil will include civil rights activists and experts speaking to expose the dangers faced by people with disabilities.
When he agreed to speak on behalf of Not Dead Yet, Dr. Koop said, "I'm very pleased to have this opportunity to address the disability community which is so threatened by physician assisted suicide."
The threat to people with disabilities has gained public exposure due to Jack Kevorkian, the retired Michigan pathologist whose prominence in the execution of physician-assisted suicide has earned him the nickname "Dr. Death." Over three quarters of Kevorkian's assisted suicide "patients" were people with severe disabilities, not terminally-ill people.
A nondisabled person that becomes depressed and despondent will be provided suicide intervention and treatment, while the judgment by a person with a disability to commit suicide is often considered to be rational and not deserving of intercession (Autry v. McKaskle, 727 F.2d 358 5th Cir. 1984). In fact, death row prisoners receive more suicide prevention than many persons with severe disabilities.
People with disabilities feel increasingly threatened by pressure to sign "Do Not Resuscitate" (DNR) orders, preventing medical practitioners from undertaking so called heroic measures to keep people alive. A growing number of hospitals, HMOs, home health agencies, nursing homes, and 'special schools', require people to sign a DNR order to get services of any kind.
Last Friday (Dec. 13), the New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco pointed out a hazard of legalizing physician-assisted suicide. "When you couple the economic power of the managed-care industry with the imbalance of the doctor-patient relationship, you have a very dangerous mixture," Vacco said. "Do we not run the risk of an HMO saying they will pay for physician-assisted suicide, but not for surgery?"
The Memphis Center for Independent Living (MCIL) is hosting letter-writing parties to encourage Mid-Southerners who cannot attend the vigil to write letters to the Supreme Court. People that want more information on physician-assisted suicide can call MCIL, 726-6404. Deborah Cunningham, the executive director of MCIL, attended a Not Dead Yet protest last June in Jack Kevorkian's Michigan community.
Local, Memphis:
Tim WheatNational:
(901) 726-6404 * (901) 726-6521 fax
1633 Madison Avenue - Memphis TN 38104
Steve DrakeDiane Coleman
(708) 524-0600
Oak Park, IL.
Lucy Gwin
Editor of Mouth
(716) 244-6599
The Memphis Center for Independent Living
1633 Madison Avenue,
Memphis, TN 38104
(901) 726-6404 v/tty (901) 726-6521 fax
mcil@mcil.org
MCIL is a United Way of the Mid-South member Agency
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