I've added my signature to the letter below.
Dr. Mark Mostert, Director
Institute for the Study of Disabilities & Bioethics
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
Bests, Mark
On Jul 5, 2009, at 10:09 AM, Colin Barnes wrote:
> Please can you sign and help get signatories?
>
> This is very urgent please can you do it today?
>
> Best wishes Jane
> Baroness Campbell, of Surbiton, D.B.E.
> 116a Princes Avenue
> Surbiton
> Surrey
> KT6 7JW
> http://www.livingwithdignity.info
>
> Please note: this e-mail may have been written using voice
> recognition software. Whilst every effort was made to eliminate
> text errors and omissions, I apologise for any that have been
> overlooked.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Peter Saunders<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> To: Peter Saunders<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; Jane Campbell<mailto:[log in to unmask]
> > ; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; Kate
> Nash<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]
> > ; David Morris<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]
> > ; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> ; [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 1:57 PM
> Subject: RE: People with disabilities letter - Please sign - URGENT
> and IMPORTANT
>
> Nine signatories now - we need UKPDC and RADAR - can anyone contact
> them and get them on board?
>
> P
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: Peter Saunders
> Sent: Fri 03/07/2009 23:40
> To: Peter Saunders; Jane Campbell; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]
> >; Kate Nash;
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; David
> Morris; [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; [log in to unmask]
> <mailto:[log in to unmask]>;
> [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; Peter Saunders
> Subject: People with disabilities letter - Please sign - URGENT and
> IMPORTANT
>
>
> Dear All,
>
>
>
> Please find pasted below the letter from leaders of the disabled
> people's movement in the UK and the US which we will be aiming to
> place in a major national newspaper (Telegraph or Times most
> probably) on Monday 6th July, the day before the debate on Lord
> Falconers amendment in the House of Lords
>
>
>
> Baroness Jane Campbell has redrafted the letter and with some very
> light further editing this has now also been agreed by David Morris
>
>
>
> We have nine signatories thus far (see below)
>
>
>
> It will not be possible now to do a lot more editing on the letter
> so we will all have to accept that the wording might not be exactly
> as we might prefer - the most important thing is to get as many
> people in leadership positions as possible to sign
>
>
>
> I have copied in here Tara Flood, Kate Nash and Liz Sayce
>
>
>
> David has also suggested Julie Newman but I don't have her email
> address - can someone add her?
>
>
>
> The best way of dealing with this is to add your names and
> descriptions to the letter below and click 'reply all' - that way we
> can all keep up with how it is going and you can all see who else
> has signed
>
>
>
> I am happy to coordinate things but will need your help so if you
> know someone who hasn't responded can you give them a fone call?
>
>
>
> If you can think of other good names to approach please add them to
> the cc box above - we will need to call a halt by Sunday midday at
> the latest to get it into the paper - scroll down for the letter
>
>
>
> Many thanks for your help
>
>
>
> Peter
>
>
>
> Peter Saunders
>
> Director
>
> Care Not Killing
>
> Visit us at www.carenotkilling.org.uk<http://
> www.carenotkilling.org.uk> <http://www.carenotkilling.org.uk/>
>
> Mob 07970 383797
>
> Tel 020 7234 9662
>
>
>
> Dear Sir,
>
>
>
> As leaders of the disabled people's movement in the UK and the USA,
> we are extremely concerned about how the proposed amendment to the
> Coroners and Justice Bill will impact on the lives of disabled people.
>
>
>
> If Lord Falconer's amendment succeeds in the House of Lords on
> Tuesday 7 July then those who assist 'terminally ill' people to go
> abroad to end their lives in 'suicide clinics' would be immune from
> prosecution. The phrase 'terminally ill' is not defined in the
> amendment, and could potentially apply to people with a very wide
> range of chronic progressive illnesses some with life expectancy
> stretching to decades.
>
>
>
> Disabled people who experience progressive conditions understand far
> more than non-disabled people about what it is live with these
> pressures. We know what is acceptable as disease or disability
> progresses, and for the huge number of us who say no to assisted
> suicide, it is because we fear the changing culture such an
> amendment would bring. People without experience of disability,
> including our friends and families cannot predict what each stage of
> our personal journey will mean. Furthermore, financial and emotional
> conflicts of interest will always present an added burden to the
> situation. A law decriminalising assisted suicide would undoubtedly
> place disabled people under pressure to end their lives early to
> relieve the burden on relatives, carers or the state.
>
>
>
> These concerns are not side issues that only affect disabled people.
> We are like society's 'canaries in the coalmine' who can often see
> the dangers of potentially discriminatory legislation before others,
> as it impacts on us even before the deed is done. We are scared now;
> we will be terrified if assisted suicide becomes state-sanctioned.
>
>
>
> The existing law, with the penalties it holds in reserve, causes
> potential assisters and those wishing to die, to think very
> carefully before acting. The discretion within the current law
> enables judges to exercise compassion in hard cases. What is not
> broken does not need fixing.
>
>
>
> Disabled people have been largely silent in this debate which has
> been carried out in the media by clerics, non-disabled commentators
> and a small handful of individuals with terminal conditions who are
> supported by Dignity in Dying. Until large numbers of people like us
> are present to engage in this highly complex and ethical debate, we
> must strongly oppose any device such as Lord Falconer's amendment to
> get assisted dying in through the back door.
>
>
>
> Haqeeq Bostan
>
> Director of New Disability Policy Forum
>
>
>
> Baroness Campbell of Surbiton
>
> Crossbench Peer
>
>
>
> Diane Coleman
>
> President, Not Dead Yet
>
>
>
> Liz Crow
>
> Roaring Girl Productions
>
>
>
> Alison Davis
>
> National Coordinator, No Less Human
>
>
>
> Stephen Drake
>
> Research Analyst, Not Dead Yet
>
>
>
> Marilyn Golden
> Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF)
>
>
>
> David Morris
>
> Chair of Independent Living Alternatives
>
>
>
> Dawn Willis
>
> Activist/Trainer affiliated to RETHINK
Dr. Mark P. Mostert, Director
Institute for the Study of Disabilities & Bioethics
Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
>
> ________________End of message________________
>
> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre
> for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies)
> .
> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
>
> Archives and tools are located at:
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this
> web page.
__________________________
Mark P. Mostert, PhD
Because it is the land that grew me, and because they are my people, I
sometimes forget to be astonished by Africans.
- Alexandra Fuller, Scribbling the Cat
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
|
