A coalition of disability-rights and patient advocacy organizations has filed federal lawsuits in New York and Illinois challenging the states’ assisted suicide laws, as they discriminate against people with disabilities and violate federal civil rights protections.
The lawsuits, brought by the End Assisted Suicide coalition, allege violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs say the laws create unequal treatment by offering lethal prescriptions while failing to ensure equivalent access to care, support services, and suicide prevention resources.
“Assisted suicide laws in New York and Illinois create a separate and unequal system in which people with life-threatening disabilities are offered death instead of the support programs everyone else gets,” said Matt Vallière, executive director of the Institute for Patients’ Rights, a plaintiff organization.
The filings are part of a broader multi-state legal effort that has previously targeted assisted suicide statutes in California, Colorado, and Delaware.
Read more at LifeNews.