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
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