Able To Choose

On an August weekday in 2010, we took our camera onto the streets of Portland, Oregon. We approached each person we encountered with an identifiable physical disability.
Thirteen agreed to speak with us on camera.
These responses are from those interviews.
People living with disabilities are today a vital community, proud to pursue meaningful careers and live independently. Most Americans advocate eliminating barriers to allow full equality, participation and self-determination for people with disabilities. Others see a population too vulnerable for society to allow terminally ill, mentally competent adults to make end-of-life choices.

Should this community have access to physician aid in dying for the terminally ill? Or is legal aid in dying too great a threat to people living with disabilities?

We wanted to hear the voices of Oregonians living with disabilities who've had 13 years of experience, living in a state where aid in dying is legal.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• assisted suicide

[CompassionChoices]

In response to ekmead: No disabled person, of the 13 we videotaped in Oregon, expressed a concern about being pressured to end their life under Oregon's Death With Dignity Act. None were edited out, either.

Transcripts are available upon request.

[grievingasoulmate]

@ekmead Maybe the difference is that in Oregon their responses were based on 14 years of empirical data versus fear generated by hypothetical slippery slope arguments. So the variance could be attributed to the "reality effect." Note: There were no slippery slopes for the disabled in Oregon. Also note that the video includes the results of a U.S. poll: 68% of people with disability are for.

[ekmead]

I wonder if you edited out any people who were concerned. On May 9th the Daily Mail in the UK printed the following: "a poll of 500 disabled people for disability charity Scope found 70 per cent were concerned that such a reform would create pressure on vulnerable patients to "end their lives prematurely".

I'd take a poll like that over a video like this any day. Nice editing job, C&C.