Toujours vivant – Not Dead Yet

People with Disabilities Opposing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

4 February 2013

While Quebec marks suicide prevention week from February 3-9, disability rights activists question whether it’s appropriate for the Marois government to table legislation to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia.

“There is a striking contradiction here,” said Amy Hasbrouck, Director of Toujours Vivant-Not Dead Yet.  “As a society we’re saying some people should be prevented from killing themselves, while another group should be helped to do so.”  Hasbrouck believes this difference comes from fear, prejudice and discrimination.

The Québec Association for Suicide Prevention has launched an awareness campaign “You’re Important to Us” to draw public attention to the 1,000 suicides that occur each year in Québec.

Hasbrouck wants the public to see people with disabilities as equally important, and deserving of aggressive efforts to prevent their suicides.

However the Marois government, following the lead of the previous liberal government, is moving forward with plans to help people with disabilities who are ‘suffering’ to commit suicide with a doctor’s help.

“What does that tell us about the value that society puts on our lives if we are old, ill or disabled?” asks Hasbrouck. 

She points out that where assisted suicide is legal, the vast people who ask to die cite factors related to the onset of disability, not because of pain.

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Contact: 

Amy Hasbrouck, 450-921-3057

Christian Debray, 450-370-8195