DROP DEAD JACK
NOT DEAD YET! THE RESISTANCE

by Bob Kafka

A new national organization has come on the scene. Called NOT DEAD YET!, it was created in response to the growing popularity of physician assisted suicides in this country. Many people fear that this slippery slope could lead to the systematic extermination of people with disabilities.

Hard to imagine in a country that has the strongest civil rights protections for people with disabilities in the world? Well consider what is taking place in our country:

  1. Growth in popular acceptance of physician assisted suicide (pas) with every "Kevorkianzation."

  2. Increased use of cost-benefit vs quality-of-life analyses of the lives of people with disabilities.

  3. Frequent interpretation in managed care, as a method to "control" health care costs, of people with disabilities' needs as too expensive.

  4. Expansion of attempts to eliminate guarantees and minimum standards in the Medicaid program.

  5. Growth of attacks, based on fears about the cost of our civil rights, against Americans with disabilities.

NOT DEAD YET! held their first national action, June 21st, on the lawn of Dr. "K". 50 people with disabilities made their views known to Dr. Kevorkian: Stop physician assisted suicide.

For information: Diane Coleman, 320 Lake St., Oak Park, Illinois, 60302-2604 708/524-0600