Disabled Connecticut Woman Speaks Out For Medical Aid in Dying

“For years now, I’ve been testifying before the Delaware General Assembly, pleading with lawmakers to pass “The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law” (House Bill 140), which would allow terminally ill adults like me the option of medical aid in dying to gently end intolerable suffering. Some disability rights advocates oppose this compassionate legislation. They have every right to speak for themselves.

But I’m disabled, and I don’t need anyone speaking for me. Why should a self-appointed group have the right to say what I can do or what any other person with a disability can do? It’s ludicrous. I’m irritated that people claim to represent me when they don’t. Nor do they represent many of us who live with disabilities: Seventy-nine percent of Americans who say they live with a disability support medical aid in dying, according to a February national poll.”   Click here to read full article