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Half of Americans would choose death over disability: survey

More than half of people in the US would rather be dead than disabled says a new survey. A US website for disabled people ran the survey which asked, "Which would you choose: Living with a severe disability that forever alters your ability to live an independent life, or death?" 52 per cent of the respondents chose death, reports Hilary White, LifeSiteNews.com.

The survey, run by the online community and website Disaboom, found that differences in attitude toward disability were based on age, income, geographic location, and level of education. 63 percent of younger Americans chose death over disability, while of those of the so-called "boomer generation" (people between the age of 55 and 64 years) 50 percent chose death. 56 percent of Americans 65 and older would rather die than live with a disability.

Those with more education and higher incomes were more likely to choose death and the numbers were slightly lower, 45 percent, in the southern states. 57 percent of those with a college education said they would rather die than live with a severe disability, while only 30 per cent of respondents who have not completed a high school education chose death.

Dr. Glen House, founder of Disaboom, himself a quadriplegic, said he was working to change such attitudes. He told Medical News Today, "I want to share ways for people to understand that disability isn't the end of life. It can be a new beginning."

Dr. House was the first student in a wheelchair to graduate from the University of Washington School of Medicine, the first person to climb 14,110-foot Pikes Peak in a wheelchair, and is also a doctor, inventor, extreme sports enthusiast, husband and father.

"Disability touches more than 54 million Americans. My goal with Disaboom has been to provide the information, community, and connection that will enable people to pave a path that supports new goals and dreams - and determine the way they will choose to live forward," he said.

Dr. House developed Disaboom to serve as a comprehensive online resource for people living with severe disabilities, their families and friends, caregivers, recreation and rehabilitation providers, and employers.

The survey is another indicator of an alarming trend of growing negative attitudes towards disabilities and those who live with them. Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Ontario-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said that it is just one more sign that a eugenics mentality has taken hold of the culture. This increasing negativity towards disability puts disabled people at risk, he said, because of the growth of support for legalised euthanasia.

"Negative attitudes," Schadenberg said, "towards living with a disability or people with disabilities is part of the deeply held beliefs within our culture."

"I can understand that a person would not want to live with a disability, but this shows how important it is to protect people with disabilities because they are a targeted group who face social and cultural isolation. People fear disability and so react by believing that they would be better off dead."

A poll taken in 2007 found that 71 percent of Canadians supported legalising physician-assisted suicide.

[07/16/2008]

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