A response to Faye Girsh.I'm writing with objections to your Culture War column by Faye Girsh, "Ashcroft, Eastwood, and Assisted Dying," in the May/June 2005 Humanist. This item contains gross misrepresentations of the organization Not Dead Yet, our stance on related issues, and disability advocacy in general. For starters, by what authority does Girsh--or you--determine which are disability rights organizations and which are "so-called disability rights organizations"? Please take a look at our website (www.not deadyet.org) and check out the organizations that have joined us in various legal endeavors and protest actions. They include virtually every major national disability rights group in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . There is also the charge that Not Dead Yet "isn't interested in other concerns relating to relating to relate prep → concernant relating to relate prep → bezüglich +gen, mit Bezug auf +acc the disabled" accompanied by a statement that it "supports George W. Bush's rally for freedom and liberty around the world." Not Dead Yet is a grassroots organization made up of disability activists. Like many disability organizations we organize around a limited number of issues (e.g. ADAPT works on in-home care, Concrete Change works on housing, we focus mostly on euthanasia euthanasia (y  'thənā`zhə), either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma. and assisted suicide assisted suicide: see euthanasia. issues). But most of the people within Not Dead Yet are active on many disability issues. Not Dead Yet is nonpartisan, but most of our members come out of the progressive activist community. Being on the same side of an issue with a given political figure on one or two issues is not the same thing as supporting that individual or their entire agenda. Here are three links to articles that should debunk de·bunk tr.v. de·bunked, de·bunk·ing, de·bunks To expose or ridicule the falseness, sham, or exaggerated claims of: debunk a supposed miracle drug. both notions--that we don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. about anything else and that we are Bush supporters: http://www.notdeadyet. org/docs/battlefieldPR1204.html (press release on "mercy killings" in Iraq), http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/equ allivesUCPeditorial0405.html (article by the executive director of the Arc of the United States and me), and http://www.notdeadyet.org/docs/Cole manCongTestmy041905.html (congressional testimony by Diane Coleman in front of the House Subcommittee). This is a partial list with more than enough material to support my points. Finally, you might want to check out a real thinker and long-time secular humanist, Thomas Szasz. His book Fatal Freedom is a great critique of suicide prevention Suicide prevention is an umbrella term for the collective efforts of mental health practitioners and related professionals to reduce the incidence of suicide through proactive preventive measures. , the power of professionals, and assisted suicide. Stephen Drake Research Analyst Not Dead Yet Forest Park, Illinois Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census. The Forest Park train stop on the CTA Blue Line is the line's western terminus, located on the Eisenhower Expressway at Desplaines Avenue. |
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