2 good Commondreams articles on the current unpleasantness

[pop goes the weasel]

The Right and Left of the Right to Die
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0328-26.htm
by Naomi Jaffe

"The right to die is fraught with moral ambiguity. We would do well to be careful what we ask for, lest it be granted. Defending the right to die, in a country and a world in which there is no right to live, puts us in dangerous territory, territory already marked out by the Bush-era law in Texas that makes it easier to pull the plug on severely disabled people if public programs are paying for their care. Before we argue that patients in severe pain have the right to die, perhaps we should argue for the right to adequate pain medication and home care so they might not want to die. And for meaningful, free, accessible preventive public health programs that would give us all a better chance of not being in that condition to begin with."

The Terri Schiavo Debacle from a Progressive Disability Perspective
http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0327-26.htm
by Josie Byzek

"I'd say the majority of us in the disability community who support Not Dead Yet's positions are prochoice. Many of us are gay or lesbian, including some in NDY leadership roles. Many are atheist or agnostic. Who we are collectively ought to be enough to differentiate NDY from the prolife camp. But it seems -- seems, I'm not sure this is accurate -- that progressive groups are so locked into the debate as defined by the prolifers that they're not willing or are unable to give weight to our perspective on these issues in their internal policies. Even though these issues primarily affect our community more-so than any other group of people.

Personally I don't think we try hard enough to articulate our perspective to progressive leaders. I think this is because it puts us in the uncomfortable position of defending our lives. But then along come these prolifers who learn our lingo and dance our dance steps and it gets even more confused."

[NAO]

1. I visit CommonDreams.org every day - it's an EXCELLENT Resource

[jwirr]

2. Thank you for posting the second

story. I am the mother of an adult with a feeding tube due to the fact that she has trouble swallowing and has starved because of it. She is also severely mentally retarded (developmentally disabled) and this fact would have been her death sentence in bushies Texas. I am sick of the hypocrites in pro-life who don't even know what they are talking about. As my daughters guardian I am quite capable of making the decisions for her and I do not want any government interference.

[Sugarbleus]

3. Hi Pop! I was just reading the piece by Josie Byzek over in

raggededge or NDY..I forget which one, tonight. I wrote to her. Loved her position and explainations.

I'm also surprised and delighted that commondreams is taking a fair stance on our issues by publishing these pieces. I was reading through Buzzflash where their articles were much more mixed up on the Schiavo case and disability issues in general. :(

I truly hope, like Byzek says, we can better articulate the many disability issues........The progressives have got to "get it" sooner or later....don't they?? :hangover:

BTW, I put you on my buddy list along with others who post in this forum. I got to feeling like I was going to lose touch with everyone if we were flamed outta here for days at a time. Hope it's alright with you?

[pop goes the weasel]

8. of course

That's a good idea. I should do the same.

[DemBones DemBones]

4. Great articles! Common Dreams apparently gets it about disabilities!

"No, It's Not About Terri Schiavo Anymore" by Mary Johnson was another great article there.


"There isn't a single disability rights activist I've heard from who is happy that things ended up at such a sorry pass, and who isn't afraid that this will make liberals hate them even more than they now do. Yet it cannot help being noticed that it generally depends on whose ox is being gored as to what side of the states' rights debate one comes down on. We're all for federal laws when it comes to things like civil rights -- and gay marriage. We're not, though, when it comes to things we've labeled as "right to die" -- which we say are "privacy issues."

We might want to take another look at the cost of such privacy.

The disability rights movement I cover is made up of individuals who themselves are living lives that they may not have been able to previously imagine. Individuals who can communicate only via technology -- who, without today's computers, might very well be thought to have little or no cognitive ability. Several of these people, in fact, contribute regularly to Ragged Edge Online. There are people who have experienced aphasia. There are people with brain injuries.

To these people, the case of Terri Schiavo looks very different.

They are particularly angered by the belief that Michael Schiavo knows what Terri Schiavo wants. "We didn't know what Terri wanted," Michael Schiavo told Larry King on Friday. "But this is what we want."


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0322-20.htm

[Sugarbleus]

5. Whoa, and WOW regarding the first article... Naomi Jaffe

I took the time to read through that piece thoroughly. I am wowed by the fact she was a member of the weather underground. That was in MY era..oh sooooo many years ago. wow wow wow... Talk about a vital resistance movement to the establishment. Yowza

Ahh, those were the days.. FABULOUS piece. Too bad we couldn't go back to those times....and bring them forward; Something is askew with the new progressives/liberalism, I dare say!

What a wonderful reminder of where we used to stand..

[Pastiche423]

6. Naomi seems to think

most PWDs can afford and/or find a doctor that is knowledgeable and willing to proscribe a pain management program in *'s America.

Ah, if that were the case.

[pop goes the weasel]

7. no, I think she's making the opposite point

She writes: "Before we argue that patients in severe pain have the right to die, perhaps we should argue for the right to adequate pain medication and home care so they might not want to die. And for meaningful, free, accessible preventive public health programs that would give us all a better chance of not being in that condition to begin with."

That is an acknowledgement that access to pain relief and good medical care is not universal, but should be.