Paralyzed accident victim fights for right to die

[Twisp]

In 1989, Larry McAfee, a Georgia engineer paralyzed in an accident, successfully argued before the Georgia Supreme Court for the right to have his ventilator removed. The state had put him in an institution, and McAfee deemed his dependent lifestyle not worth living.

Yet after winning his suit, he befriended a doctor at another institution, who persuaded him to give life another try. He found work, and was able to live independently for several years before dying of natural causes.

Some disability rights activists see the right to die as fundamental to independence. In the May 1991 Western Journal of Medicine, Andrew Batavia, a disability rights advocate who was instrumental in passing the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, wrote that "people who believe they have no control over the fundamental decision to live cannot claim to have autonomy over their lives."

But many disability rights activists disagree. They say that right-to-die arguments are just veiled discrimination and are predicated on the assumption that disabled lives are not worth living.

"People who help people to die, like (Jack) Kevorkian, are heroes in some people's minds. He's a serial killer in my mind," said Wilson, of Access Living.

In one study, about 68% of people who experience a spinal cord injury are either very or somewhat satisfied with their lives. To independent living advocates, the underlying problem is the lack of autonomy and dignity afforded to patients with high-level disabilities.

"The reality is they shouldn't have to live that way, and we should provide the services that make people's lives bearable," Wilson said.

Those arguments are academic for Crews, whose discussions with Froedtert have stalled, and who is waiting to hear about his Medicaid. He rarely leaves the house because his motorized wheelchair is broken. He agreed to take anti-depressants a few months ago, but said they have not changed his outlook or wishes.

His mother said his discontent is plain to see.

"I can put myself into his shoes every day, and he's just not happy anymore," she said.

http://www.jsonline.com/features/health/110948384.html