Disabil Health J
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The arguments that disability rights advocates present in opposition to legalized assisted suicide are frequently misconstrued in public debate. The goal of this paper is to identify and analyze key "straw man" fallacies about the disability rights opposition in order to clarify this position and the factors that contribute to its distortion. ⋯ Prominent fallacies that assisted suicide proponents attribute to disability rights opponents are analyzed in relation to the dynamics of the assisted suicide debate, social views of disability and incurable illness, and available evidence. The author's position is that disability rights arguments against legalized assisted suicide contribute a complex intellectual and experience-based perspective to the debate that can illuminate immediate and distal consequences of altering public policy.
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A policy resolution supporting physician aid in dying was proposed to the American Public Health Association (APHA) in 2007 that prompted a debate with the Disability Section on its meaning for people with disabilities. ⋯ The APHA resolution supporting aid in dying was passed in 2008 with some improvements in the language and a recommendation to measure pre-existing disability. Valuable lessons were learned through the debate process.