The following is cross-posted from my policy blog: http://dayinwashington.com/?p=162. Please go there for more information and the original video.
Suicide for People with Disabilities
Having been someone with a disability for almost 15 years and considering myself a successful and happy individual overall, I have to admit that it still shocks me when I see and hear people say things like, “I would rather die than live with a disability.” It is more than shock, I find it disturbing. Why? Because it negates my entire life. It is like saying everything I’ve done and everything I do now, as a person with a disability, my life, is meaningless. It isn’t worth living.
At http://dayinwashington.com/?p=162 is a video from Saturday on CNN/Europe. My apologies in that I haven’t completed a transcript yet, but I will get it up as soon as I have completed it. In short, the story is about a young man, 23 years old, who after being paralyzed from the chest down, a year later travelled to Switzerland to take his own life. Why? He didn’t want to live a “second class existence.”
Right now, I just wish the young man had had the opportunity to really talk to other people with disabilities. Those who’ve been there and who can relate and can let him know that there is so much more to living than just a “fully functioning” body. The waste, makes me angry and the fact that there is a debate around the issue makes me even angrier. The assumption is that without a fully functioning body, people (and people with disabilities) have nothing to contribute to society and this world.
Thoughts? Comments?
For more information, please go to: www.DayInWashington.com
