Assisted Suicide and Disability: The Perspective of One Disabled Person

Disabled people are vulnerable in our society.

Photo by ahmet arslan on Unsplash

Many well-meaning people in our country support assisted suicide. They may tell themselves, “If I was terminally ill, or senile, or unable to care for myself, I would not want to be forced to live in that situation. I would want to be able to escape from that kind of life. Therefore, assisted suicide should be legal.”

But they don’t realize that assisted suicide is a huge threat to one segment of the population- the disabled. What we see happening in other countries that have legalized assisted suicide, and to a lesser extent in our own country, is alarming.

Assisted Suicide for the Disabled and Chronically Ill

Currently in the United States, under normal circumstances, if someone wants to kill themselves, the police can be called.

If the police fear a person is about to kill themselves, they will take that person into custody and bring them to a mental health facility. The police will forcibly intervene to prevent the person’s suicide.

The suicidal person will be interviewed at the facility. If mental health workers fear they’re in danger of suicide, the suicidal person will be…