An Ethical Dilemma
Dear Disability Advocates & their
Families and Friends,
On Friday, September 23, 2005 there will be a conference at the
Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis. This conference is sponsored by Hennepin
County Medical Center and is entitled, “Ronald Cranford,
MD—33 Years of Clinical Ethics In Minnesota: Ron Cranford’s
Stories of Heroes and Courage.”
Michael Schiavo will be honored at this conference. Ron Cranford,
Art Caplan, and many in Bioethics academia view him as a hero for
his persistence and ultimate success in having his cognitively and
physically disabled wife, Terri, dehydrated until her death.
This conference will celebrate physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
This conference is an affront to people with disabilities and their
families and friends who love them. This is not about terminal illness
or proper pain and symptom control in people with terminal illness
where death is imminent and due to an identifiable cause such end
stage cancer, end stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney,
liver, or heart failure. This is about discrimination and prejudice
against a group of people with the similar characteristic of disability.
Many groups view this is a
disability rights situation including, Not Dead Yet, The Association
of people with Severe Handicaps, The American Association of People
with Disabilities, Justice For All, National Council on Independent
Living, and National Council on Disability as well as many others
disability advocacy groups. Please view the following websites for
further information on groups that oppose euthanasia: www.notdeadyet.org, www.tash.org and www.ncil.org.
According to Diane Coleman,
President of Not Dead Yet, “People
with disabilities have an opportunity to lead society from the isolation
and despair of today into a renewed recognition of belonging and
community for all. The idea that people with disabilities are not
worthy of society’s acceptance or resources is not new. We
see this form of hatred throughout history, often masked as benevolence.
But for the first time in history, people with disabilities are organizing
our community to fight back, to demand the equal protection of the
law.”
We as a community of people with disabilities and their advocates
need to be seen and heard. We need to show that we demand respect
and value of our lives and the lives of our friends and family members.
Please join us in an organized protest of the clear and present danger
of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia of people with disabilities.
There are powerful people in positions of authority that hold the
view that people are better off dead than disabled. Let us stand
in protest together as a visible declaration that Michael Schiavo
and his bioethics right to die promoters should not be glorified
or honored, but denounced and disputed. There is value, meaning,
and worth in the lives of people with significant cognitive and physical
disabilities.
Time: 8:30 am until 1:00 pm.
Location: Hyatt Regency 1300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
612-370-1234
Some protesters will be renting and staying in rooms and attending
the conference to hand out leaflets and fliers. www.minneapolis.hyatt.com
Katheryn J. Ware RN BSN at
Kitkat24@comcast.net
