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AUTONOMY represents persons with disabilities who expect choice in all aspects of their lives, including choice at the end of life.

 

   

AUTONOMY endorses

California Assembly Bill 374


Boston, March 14th, 2007

“ It Is time for legislators to provide what 80% of Californians want,” said AUTONOMY Chairman, Paul Spiers, today, “ and that is the right to control, choice and properly regulated Aid in Dying, when they are in the final days of a terminal illness.”

“ This is not a matter of religion or politics” Spiers went on to say “ but a matter of individual choice and the freedom to exercise what must be seen as an inalienable, human right; a right that all Americans should be guaranteed.  The Board of AUTONOMY is especially pleased that legislators in California have listened to Disability  Rights advocates concerning the historical vulnerability of persons with disabilities, and have included specific language to address this issue in the California Compassionate Choices Act – See Article 1, Section 7195 (3-4).”

“ AUTONOMY speaks for the majority of persons with disabilities when it endorses the CCCA and the bill that is about to be considered by the Vermont House of Representatives and Senate.  Independent  polls have repeatedly established that a majority of persons with disabilities, just like the majority of all Americans, support the legalization of Aid in Dying.”

 see PDF of CCA-AB374


 

WELL KNOWN BLIND DISABILITY RIGHTS ACTIVIST ANNOUNCES HIS SUPPORT OF CCCA


Attorney Russ Kletzing, blind since shortly after birth, is a former President of the National Federation of the Blind and was the Assistant Chief Counsel to the California State Department of Water Resources for 25 years. He is a Sacramento resident.

“The question is not whether assisted dying will occur, but whether it will occur in a regulated and controlled fashion, with safeguards and scrutiny, or whether it will occur covertly, in a random, dangerous and unregulated manner.
  
The rhetoric from opponents who promote intolerance undermines the principles of autonomy and diversity that have been the foundation of the disability rights movement.”

 See PDF for entire testimony

AUTONOMY joins world federation
right to die societies

Toronto, September, 2006 - By unanimous vote, the International Delegates of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies [WFRDS], elected AUTONOMY to become its newest member organization.  AUTONOMY Board Chairman, Paul Spiers, attended the International Conference in Toronto, Canada. He gave an invited presentation, Engaging the Disability Community, and was present at the Delegates meeting to answer questions prior to AUTONOMY being elected to the World Federation. “This is another step forward in making sure that the voice of persons with disabilities is properly represented,” said Spiers, “as legislators and politicians around the world consider legislation for a compassionate choice at life’s end. A choice we all deserve to have, whether or not we have had to live with a disability.”

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