AS NEW HAMPSHIRE considers legalizing assisted suicide, also referred to as medical aid in dying (MAID), I would like to draw attention to the potential impacts this bill could have on disabled and other marginalized residents.
I was 19 years old the second time I attempted to die by suicide. I had just been diagnosed with a chronic but not life-threatening illness, I had rapidly lost about 70% of my hearing in the middle of completing a music degree, and I was struggling with untreated anorexia that was taking a serious toll on my health.
At my intake appointment with a new therapist a few days after my attempt, I explained my situation and the hopelessness I was feeling. She nodded along, then looked me in the eyes and said something I will never forget:
“I would probably kill myself if I were you.”
She wasn’t the first person to say this to me as I started becoming more noticeably disabled, but she was probably the last person I expected to do so. Now that I work in disability policy, nothing surprises me. I hear stories from other disabled people about doctors pressuring them to sign DNRs because they are assumed to have a low quality of life due to their disability. I get messages on social media from people asking me how to advocate for appropriate pain management when their doctors don’t believe the amount of pain they’re in. I pore over story after story of people like Michael Hickson and Tinslee Lewis having treatment withdrawn, withheld, or threatened because of the pervasive view that it’s better to be dead than disabled.
Jules Good: Disabled need help living, not help dying
Tag: shootings
LIVE BLOG | Jenin Under Massive Israeli Attack, Many Killed, Wounded
Many Palestinians have been reportedly killed and wounded in an ongoing Israeli military operation targeting the northern Palestinian town of Jenin and its refugee camp. This is considered the most violent Israeli army operation in the camp since the massacre of 2002.
LIVE BLOG | Jenin Under Massive Israeli Attack, Many Killed, Wounded
Related:
WATCH: Palestinian Resistance Blow up Israeli Military Vehicles in Jenin
Why the West is Whitewashing Terrorism in Vietnam and Myanmar
As US-Chinese tensions grow and as it becomes increasingly clear the US is unable to compete with China head-to-head in terms of development, trade, and investment, especially in regions along China’s periphery, the US is resorting increasingly to asymmetrical measures including political coercion, subversion, and even violence.
Why the West is Whitewashing Terrorism in Vietnam and Myanmar
Video (Odysee) via The New Atlas
Donald Trump mocks Republicans for giving him a standing ovation for attacking trans people
Trump said that Republicans are more about hurting trans people than about cutting taxes.
Donald Trump mocks Republicans for giving him a standing ovation for attacking trans people
Related:
Republicans censure senator for backing LGBTQ+ rights and gun control
Will they censure Trump, too?! /s
“There is no pressure on Israel to change”: Palestinians respond to Blinken visit to Jerusalem
Palestinians say Antony Blinken’s statements in Jerusalem show the U.S. remains biased. “When the US draws an equivalence between the butcher and the butchered, then it is necessarily on the side of the butcher,” says Ubai Aboudi.
“There is no pressure on Israel to change”: Palestinians respond to Blinken visit to Jerusalem
NYPD commissioner reveals plans for smartphone app, new cameras
NYPD commissioner reveals plans for smartphone app, new cameras
“Between its use of spying drones, rampant facial recognition technology, and other invasive policing tactics, we’ve seen time and time again that the NYPD cannot police itself,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “As it looks to deploy new apps to officer and civilian phones, the Department needs to be transparent about its plan for these technologies and how they will store and protect New Yorkers’ data — ensuring that this rollout complies with the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act. To truly uphold New Yorkers’ privacy and safety, any technology adopted by the NYPD must be subject to public scrutiny and review,” she said in a statement.
Gay club shooting suspect evaded Colorado’s red flag gun law
DENVER (AP) — A year and a half before he was arrested in the Colorado Springs gay nightclub shooting that left five people dead, Anderson Lee Aldrich allegedly threatened his mother with a homemade bomb, forcing neighbors in surrounding homes to evacuate while the bomb squad and crisis negotiators talked him into surrendering.
Gay club shooting suspect evaded Colorado’s red flag gun law
Real-looking toy guns are now illegal across New York
Starting today, toy guns sold across New York must meet the same strict criteria as in New York City, which requires them to be brightly colored or clear. The goal of a new state law that takes effect Monday is to prevent people from using imitation firearms that could be perceived as real.
Real-looking toy guns are now illegal across New York
Including A Child, Israeli Soldiers Shoot Eleven Palestinians In Kufur Qaddoum
On Friday, Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly procession in Kufur Qaddoum, east of the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and shot eleven Palestinians, including a child, and caused many to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Including A Child, Israeli Soldiers Shoot Eleven Palestinians In Kufur Qaddoum
Success for party of ‘Sweden first’ energizes global right
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Sweden Democrats party was founded by neo-Nazis and skinheads in the 1980s. Today, the rebranded and reformed nationalist party stands on the edge of unprecedented influence.
Success for party of ‘Sweden first’ energizes global right
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