Disability rights activists from Not Dead Yet of Georgia, Georgia ADAPT and Disabled Queers in Action are urging the state Supreme Court to uphold the prosecution of members of the Final Exit Network. Below is an op-ed submitted to the AJC by activist, Eleanor Smith – member of Not Dead Yet of Georgia. Since its submission, other advocates and disability organizations have signed on to the letter.

Equal Rights Includes Equal Suicide Prevention

As a disability rights activist, I see many people struggle every day to obtain the basic essentials to live and participate in the community. Because of many economic and attitudinal barriers thrown in people’s way, it’s not unusual for members of our community to experience at least brief periods of despair over what can seem like a never ending struggle.
I am very concerned over the “assistance” that members of the Final Exit Network (FEN) are eager to give to old, ill or disabled people who want to commit suicide. Young, healthy people sometimes feel suicidal, and in those cases law– and society as a whole –rightly step in strongly for prevention. But FEN singles out disabled people as candidates for active help to kill themselves.

One of the charges against FEN involves tampering with the scene of a suicide to pass it off as a natural death.

Also to consider is the troublesome report by an undercover GBI agent. The agent stated that one of the defendants, who had posed as a prospective FEN client, informed him that part of the “help” offered would involve holding his hands down to make sure he didn’t “inadvertently” rip the helium-filled bag off. It’s hard to believe that none of the roughly 200 FEN claims to have helped commit suicide didn’t change their mind at the last minute. The histories of at least two of the members of the FEN Advisory Board raise alarms. Faye Girsh and Ruth von Fuchs both have publicly advocated removing or lessening the legal consequences for family members who kill a disabled child or a cognitively disabled adult such as a person with dementia– provided that the killer claimed to have acted out of compassion.

What guarantees do any of us have that FEN members haven’t aided and abetted outright murders? The helium apparatus could easily be used to kill an elderly relative or child with cognitive disabilities, with no sign of struggle.
We ask the Georgia Supreme Court: Please proceed with prosecution for tampering with the scene of death. And please uphold Georgia’s ban on assisted suicide so that predators have some checks on their behavior.

Eleanor Smith – Not Dead Yet of Georgia
Patricia Puckett – Not Dead Yet of Georgia
Rebecca Ramage-Tuttle – Not Dead Yet of Georgia
Linda Pogue – Georgia ADAPT
Ryan Mercer
Vivian Teel – ADAPT
Georgia Advocacy Office
Harriet Harris – Circle of Support, Inc.
The Arc of Georgia
Greg Harry
Georgia ADAPT
Not Dead Yet of Georgia