About the Topic
What are the implications of granting the right to use suicide as healthcare to people with psychiatric diagnoses, ineffective healthcare, perceived disabilities, and undiagnosed medical problems? How does the conversation change when death becomes an approved outcome of healthcare?
About the Speakers
Anita Cameron (she/her) began working as Not Dead Yet‘s Director of Minority Outreach in January 2017. She has met with national and state policy makers and written persuasively about opposition to a public policy of assisted suicide from the perspective of communities of color who experience disparities in access to healthcare. Anita’s work and articles were cited in the 2019 National Council on Disability report on the dangers of assisted suicide as public policy.
John B. Kelly (he/him) is a Boston-based disability rights activist, writer, and a longtime member of Not Dead Yet. As someone commonly referred to as “paralyzed from the neck down” from a spinal cord injury, John was influenced by the writings of Paul Longmore about the “right to die” cases of the 1980s and 90s – people with similar disabilities who were put on the fast track to death while being denied the resources to live.
As the director of Second Thoughts MA: Disability Rights Advocates Against Assisted Suicide, John has again and again helped stop the legalization of assisted suicide in Massachusetts. In 2012, he squared off thrice against assisted suicide proponent Dr. Marcia Angell, and more recently his work has been featured in outlets such as as the Boston Globe, Worcester Telegram, CNN’s “United Shades Of America,” WSHU-AM in CT, and elsewhere. John has a Masters degree in Sociology from Brandeis.
About Judi’s Room
Named after celebrated human rights activist Judi Chamberlin, Judi’s Room is a free public discussion panel hosted jointly via Zoom by MindFreedom International and I Love You, Lead On on the first Wednesday of each month. These meetings usually begin with a presentation by a panel of experts followed by a group discussion in which questions from the audience are welcome. Closed captioning and ASL interpretation is provided. Registration is required.