Displaying items by tag: disability

French authorities have ignored the UN Disability Committee and have euthanised a French man. Starting more than a week ago, and culminating on Wednesday with his death, doctors decided deliberately to kill Vincent Lambert.

At the completion of the Rio Paralympics in 2016, Marieke Vervoort, a Belgian silver medallist in the 400 metres, and a winner of silver and gold medals at the London Olympics announced to a BBC interviewer that she had completed the requirements to receive medical assistance to commit suicide at a future time of her choosing.

Marieke explained that, notwithstanding her satisfaction at winning the medal:  there is also another side to the medal, the side of suffering and of saying goodbye to the sport. Because I love the sport, sport is my life.  Referring to her future plans, she confided: I know when it's enough for me, I have those papers.

As the debate on the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Victoria ramps up in the coming months, Daniel Giles discusses how fellow disability advocates feel about this important topic.

[Note on the accompanying photograph: Disability advocates in Adelaide last year for the parliamentary debate on euthanasia (source: http://gimpled.blogspot.com.au/2016/10/why-we-must-not-go-gently-into-night.html) Courtesy: Paul Russell]

Disability advocates in recent times have raised concerns about the impact the legalisation of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide will have on them. There are people within the disability community actively campaigning against both.