Stay With Us Anyway

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Ragged
Edge
EXTRA!
Holy Week, 2002

Stay With Us Anyway
(from a variety of news sources)
by Rus Cooper-Dowda

"A British court has ruled that a paralyzed woman is mentally competent to 'refuse consent to life sustaining medical treatment' and may have assistance in turning off her ventilator."

"...The woman had complained that she could not obtain the same level of support that actor Christopher Reeve has used to maintain his quality of life...."

You have rebelled against disabled life without a lot of money. Help the rest of the disabled community rebel over the same situation.

Stay with us anyway.

"...Miss B.'s wishes were...not to die, but not to remain alive in her present condition...."

You have gotten the "Last Ditch" option you sought. Help your community and its friends work on the needed options before that.

Stay with us anyway.

"...Dame Elizabeth, the President of the High Court Family Division, declared Miss B. to be an exceptionally impressive witness. 'I hope she will forgive me for saying...that if she did reconsider her decision, she would have a lot to offer the community at large'...."

You have impressed your judge. Help your community impress other judges.

Stay with us anyway.

"...The judge...pointed out that Miss B. had...raised an issue with which most people would wish to avoid dealing...The judge also said that she had had to write this judgement in more of a hurry than she might have wished fearing that the...emotions of the case might cloud her judgement...."

You have established that you would rather die than live the way you do now. Help your community keep "better dead than disabled" an option that looks less than clear-cut.

Stay with us anyway.

"...The woman said she was pleased with the judgement but upset she had been forced to take court action...."

You have shown your bravery in taking this action. Help your community take more legal action that affirms life instead of negating it.

Stay with us anyway.

"...The judge left the ultimate decision to Miss B., who is now free to reconsider...the options open to her, confident that B. will at last be listened to, her wishes obeyed...."

You have been listened to on this. Help your community be heard on living now.

Stay with us anyway.

"...The 'right to die' can be a subterfuge for what is really a 'duty to die,' because society does not adequately provide the support needed to live humanely outside a hospital or nursing home...."

You have the right to die fully now. Help us all now gain the right to live fully, too.

Stay with us anyway.

Stay with us anyway.

Please, Stay with us anyway.

Holy Week, 2002

Rus Cooper-Dowda is a minister and freelance writer in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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