On death, Dawkins, Down Syndrome and dementia. I get most of my news these days from twitter. I imagine that someone will (if they haven't already) conduct a survey one day on the attraction and functionality of transmitting the maximum information in only 140 characters.I love it. It delivers me what I need and want to know in a highly efficient manner - without all the shallow 'click bait' window dressing which seems to be the stock in trade of the general online media services. Continue reading

  Dr Kevin Fitzpatrick of Not Dead yet UK reports on the UK campaign against Lord Falconer's 'assisted dying' bill. (First published on Alex Schadenberg's blog)In the (British) House of Lords, another attempt to legalise assisted suicide/euthanasia was debated at 2nd reading stage July 18, 2014 through Lord Falconer's 'assisted dying' Bill. It was rumoured that a vote would be forced and it was estimated, in advance of the debate, that speakers for the assisted suicide would outweigh those against by a 2:1 margin. On the day of the debate, neither turned out to be so. The Bill 'passed' to the committee stage without a vote, after ten hours of discussion in the chamber, but to our pleased surprise speakers were split about 50:50 for and against the Bill. Continue reading

  Melbourne Academic and writer, Shakira Hussein expalins why euthanasia threatens people living with disability.This article is taken from the website of The Saturday Paper and was first published under the title of 'Living with Dignity'. Continue reading

The phenomenal Craig Wallace teams up with fellow disability activist Samantha Connor looks at the media bias in reporting suicide and murder of people living with disability.  This article first appeared on the ABC's Ramp UP website.Media reports on homicides of people with disability, particularly those with intellectual disability, are frequently sugar-coated and euphemised. This only serves to diminish the value of those who have lost their lives, writes Craig Wallace and Samantha Connor. Continue reading

Lives Worth Living has uncovered a series of bizarre and horrifying pro-euthanasia comments on a prominent polling website which describe children with disability as burdens, a waste of resources and "not even human".  An online debate.org poll which asked whether parents should be able to euthanize disabled children "that complicate their lives" has provided a disturbing window into the views of some in the pro-euthanasia community towards about disability.Debate.org describes itself as a free online community where "intelligent minds from around the world" come to debate online and read the opinions of others. The poll saw 61% indicate that they believe that parents should be able to euthanize children with a disability despite not specifying which disabilities or how they complicate lives. Continue reading

Euthanasia: Death is not preferable to living with a significant disability. Norman KuncI'm a non-religious man with cerebral palsy. I oppose legalizing euthanasia because i've seen far too many unrequested do-not-resuscitate orders placed on my disabled friends and colleagues. This occurs because many doctors, like most of society, believe that death is preferable to living with a significant disability. Continue reading

  A paraplegic man, strapped into a cumbersome exoskeleton, gave the opening kick of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The media, and people, hail this as a miracle of technology, a better future for folks who are paralysed. I see this completely differently. It is both "inspiration porn" and devaluating the experience of disability. Frankly, it upset me greatly.Let's face it, this really was just a publicity stunt for the exoskeleton system. Continue reading

Recent headlines in a major metropolitan newspaper inviting comparisons between people with disability and the nation's war wounded should give pause to disability rights advocates that still support euthanasia. To invoke Hitler is said to be last desperate act on the losing side of an argument yet it becomes impossible to ignore the historical resonance between slackers and useless eaters when deliberately placed aside veterans and war.They make it impossible for responsible disability activists to eschew links between the debate about euthanasia and its true historical pedigree as a State utilitarian program designed to cleanse a softened modern era of its slackers. Continue reading

Tanni Grey-Thompson A number of prominent disability activists in the UK have been warning in the British media over the last few days that Lord Falconer's Assisted Dying Bill is dangerous and puts people at risk.This includes nine-time paralympian and holder of 11 paralympic gold medals and now British Peer, Tanni Grey-Thompson in a recent article in the Continue reading

  The US Blogger:  comes to grips with the death culture in replying to one academic's view of disability in newborns: Continue reading