Topic: Viewpoint: SHOULD PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE BE LEGALIZED?

For centuries, people with disabilities have been regarded as a burden, both to their families and to the American taxpayer. Viewed as objects of pity, dispair, and charity people with disabilities in this country have endured a less than second class status dispite the enactment of legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We are in an age when "balanced budget", "welfare reform", "Medicaid and Medicare reform" are buzz words receiving mention in nearly any politically oriented discussion occurring in the nation. "Cutting medical costs" comes in a close second. It takes no great leap of logic to realize that the "right to die" would quickly become a "duty to die", all in the name of balancing the budget or cutting medical costs. The potential for abuses, should legalization of physician-assisted end of life occur, is frightening to those who have considered it.

If you desire information on how legalization of physician-assisted suiced contains an often overlooked impact on American citizens with disabilities, please follow me to http://www.acils.com/NotDeadYet