In a stunning article on Ales Schadenberg’s May 31, 202 blog titled “Suicide helpline suggested euthanasia for my disabled friend”, Meghan Schrader, a disability justice advocate and scholar, warns that “it is best to nip the USA assisted suicide movement in the bud and not let that movement get its foot in the door” and tells the story of her Canadian friend “Amy”. (Emphasis added)
Ms. Schrader writes that Amy reached out to her for help after Canada legalized euthanasia for disabled people in 2021.
“Amy had endured child abuse, which left Amy with PTSD and physical injuries that caused severe chronic pain. As an indigent disabled person Amy was unable to access thorough medical treatment for these disabilities, so even though Amy wanted to live and was deeply offended by Canada’s decision to expand euthanasia to people with disabilities, Amy’s suffering was so great that Amy thought constantly of dying by “MAiD” (Medical Aid in Dying).”
“However, when Amy called a mental health and suicide crisis support hotline for poor people and asked the operator for help fighting against these thoughts, the operator said, “Well, MAiD is a legit and legal option. Maybe it’s something you should consider. The medical system seems to be failing you. And you are never going to get the opiate pain medication that you think you need.” (Emphasis added)”
“With help from about ten different people, including the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Amy was eventually able to take a train four hours away from home and show up in the emergency room of a hospital that opposes “MAiD” and specializes in chronic pain and mental illness. Amy finally received excellent care. Although Amy sometimes still has symptoms of chronic pain and PTSD and life is still often quite a struggle, Amy’s symptoms are manageable and Amy is not planning to die by “MAiD.” It was my honor to attend Amy’s Zoom birthday party recently.
But thanks to Compassion and Choice’s friends in Canada and the systemic ableism that is enabling their cause, the Canadian medical system would have killed Amy before providing adequate medical treatment or support.”
She ends by stating:
“I’ve read statements from proponents of recent assisted suicide bill’s saying that their supporters are “real people with grief and loss, not hypothetical scenarios.” Well, Amy and Rachel are not hypothetical scenarios, they are my friends. I’ve read statements describing myself and other disability rights movement opponents of assisted suicide as “abusive, bullying and cruel.” (Emphasis added)
But I can think of few things more abusive, bullying and cruel than for a suicide prevention hotline operator to tell a caller to go ahead and be killed. I don’t want to live in that world, and like others in the disability justice movement, I won’t be quiet while the proponents lay the scaffolding for that to happen.
I’m sorry if that makes me cruel.”
CONCLUSION
As I wrote in 2015:
Marie’s suicide hit our family, her friends, and her therapists like an atom bomb. We had all tried for years to help her, with periods of success. Suicide was always our greatest fear, and we made sure she was armed with crisis helpline numbers and our cell phone numbers at all times. I trust in an all-merciful God Who loves my daughter as much as I do, and I don’t regret one minute of those 16 years of trying to save her.
Both personally and professionally, as a nurse, I’ve cared for many suicidal people whose lives were saved. It’s a myth that suicidal people are destined to commit suicide eventually, and studies have shown that only 10 percent (or less, according to some studies) complete a suicide.1 I’m still determined to save vulnerable people from suicide, regardless of their age, socioeconomic status, or condition. Giving up hope is not an option.
Not surprisingly, since suicide contagion is a recognized risk factor for suicide, one of Marie’s close friends became suicidal on the first anniversary of her suicide but was saved. Is it really just a coincidence that Oregon, which doesn’t include assisted suicide in its suicide statistics, now reports a suicide rate that’s 41 percent above the national average?4“
But the “assisted suicide/ euthanasia” machine still rolls on in the US.
The Patients Rights Action organization keeps track of states with bills to legalize assisted suicide and those states that defeated assisted suicide. (see state status updated 5/29/2025)
Please check the status in your state and take the necessary action.
We cannot become like Canada!
nancyvalko 