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HIGHLIGHT PIECE OF THE WEEK |
Incredible Matching Opportunity Available Now!
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Want to help end assisted suicide?
Two generous donors have committed to matching all new and increased giving – dollar for dollar – up to $1 Million! Until the end of the year, your support goes twice as far to protect human dignity, expand access to real care, and help us with our litigation strategy to get to the Supreme Court and ensure that assisted suicide ends in the United States!
Click below to donate today! |
A CALL TO ACTION - ILLINOIS & NEW YORK |
In the dark of night on October 31, the Illinois Senate passed a “Food Sanitation Bill.” Disgustingly, the language in SB 1950 has nothing to do with food sanitation and instead legalizes assisted suicide in Illinois with the minimum number of votes needed for passage. Since the bill had already passed in the House, it will now go to Governor.
Please act TODAY to contact Governor Pritzker, who has presidential ambitions, by clicking the link below and ask him to veto SB 1950 and keep Illinois free of lethal drugs that harm vulnerable patients! |
In April, the New York State Assembly passed, by a close vote of 81-67, dangerous and discriminatory assisted suicide legislation. During the last week of session, on Monday, June 9th, the New York State Senate approved assisted suicide by a vote of 35-27. A slim majority over the necessary 32 votes for passage. The bill will now head to the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul, who needs to hear from YOU. Click the link below to tell the Governor to VETO this bill! |
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If Gov. Pritzker Allows Assisted Suicide, I Can't Protect My Patients |
Dr. Kevin Garner, board certified in Internal Medicine, Hospice, and Palliative Care, says "I believe that the role of the physician is to affirm the lives of patients, to relieve suffering, and to give compassionate, competent care as long as our patients live. Assisted suicide ushers in abuse, discrimination, and injustice. Rather than hastening patients’ deaths, we should advocate for increased access to mental health, palliative care, and hospice services."
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Palliative Care is Not Well-Funded, So Opposition to Assisted Suicide is Needed |
Morgan Hayden, MSC, an Internal Medicine specialist in Cardiff, Great Britian, says "The need for palliative medicine is expected to increase, with demand posited to rise by 42% by 2040. The ethical arguments in favor of assisted dying seldom take into account this growing inequity within the speciality, indeed I would argue that the very fact that 20 people a day die in the UK in pain, is not an argument for assisted dying but for more reliable, consistent and specialist Palliative Medicine and social care provision."
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Life After Challenges Status Quo of Assisted Suicide Debate |
Director of Life After, Reid Davenport, was interviewed by Mia Galuppo of the Hollywood Reporter, "Life After is heading to Independent Lens after a long festival run. The director hopes the film helps cite a sense of urgency to change the status quo for disabled Americans. He says, 'There needs to be seismic shifts in both the employment of disabled people, the support they receive, the health care they receive, and how they are able to access community.'"
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Last Chance: Webinar on Assisted Suicide Danger for Psychiatric Patients |
Join Dr. Mark Komrad, a leading psychiatrist and medical ethicist, for an in-depth presentation on how assisted suicide endangers people struggling with mental illness. Hosted by PRAF's Executive Director, Matt Vallière, Dr. Komrad will share why expanding assisted suicide to psychiatric patients represents a serious threat to patient dignity. |
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Amber Smock Voices Concerns About Assisted Suicide For People With Disabilities |
Amber Smock, Vice President of Advocacy for Access Living, participated in a brief debate on assisted suicide. She state s, "At the end of their life, people with disabilities want to know what's going to happen with them. But for a lot of people with disabilities, choice on how to live their lives is actually a day by day process. Right now, though, a lot of people who don't actually experience real choice because there's so much that is outside their control... They may not have access to pain medication."
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If Gov. Pritzker Allows Assisted Suicide, I Can't Protect My Patients |
Jackie Sundquist, CEO of RAMP Disability Resources & Services, says "Instead of legalizing assisted suicide, Illinois should invest in better palliative and hospice care, stronger mental health services, and more home-based supports so people can live comfortably and with dignity. No one should feel that death is their only option because help and care are out of reach." |
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For the most recent update on assisted suicide laws in the states, click here or on the image of the states below. |
"End Assisted Suicide" is the group of plaintiffs suing the state of California to overturn the Assisted Suicide law there. Our 501(c)(3) sister organization, the Institute for Patients' Rights, has joined this ground-breaking lawsuit as a plaintiff. |
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. |
If you’re in crisis, there are options available to help you cope. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at any time to connect with a trained crisis counselor. For confidential support available 24/7 for everyone in the U.S., call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. |
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PRAF is a leading national, non-partisan single-issue organization that protects the rights of patients, people with disabilities, older adults, and other historically underrepresented groups from deadly harm and discrimination inherent in assisted suicide laws. |
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