We’ve joined a federal lawsuit in Colorado with a coalition of national and Colorado-based disability and patient advocacy organizations - Atlantis ADAPT, United Spinal Association, Not Dead Yet, the Institute for Patients’ Rights, and Mary Gossman, a woman with anorexia.
The plaintiffs argue the Colorado assisted suicide law violates core protections under the U.S. Constitution and federal civil rights laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Embedded in our claim that the Colorado law is an inherently discriminatory violation of the ADA, the suit also highlights how the law is being applied to people with non-terminal conditions such as anorexia and spinal cord injuries—conditions where recovery is often possible with appropriate care. Instead of receiving suicide prevention and medical support, people with disabilities are being steered toward lethal drugs.
“Assisted suicide laws like Colorado’s create a separate and unequal system in which people with disabilities are offered death instead of support,” said Matt Vallière, executive director of the Institute for Patients’ Rights. “This lawsuit affirms that every person’s life has value, regardless of age, ability, or diagnosis.”
Legal counsel Michael Bien explains:
“Colorado’s law is being applied to treatable conditions like anorexia. Instead of care and mental health support, patients are directed to suicide. That is not acceptable.”
This lawsuit challenges a growing and dangerous trend of legalizing assisted suicide for those who are most vulnerable, often based on discriminatory assumptions about their quality of life. As Ian McIntosh of Not Dead Yet puts it:
“The Haves get suicide prevention. The Have Nots—people with disabilities—get suicide assistance.”
We’re taking a stand to ensure that all lives are protected and that vulnerable people are not treated as disposable under the law.
This 2nd lawsuit in the federal court system puts us one step closer to the Supreme Court and total victory over a eugenic public policy that undermines the inestimable value and dignity of each one of us. Onward and upward! |
Matt Vallière Executive Director Institute for Patients' Rights |
