When people with illnesses or disabilities are experiencing clinical
depression or other emotional difficulties, they should have access to and
participate in counselling or other appropriate treatment. When people with
disabilities are experiencing suicidal thoughts or exhibiting suicidal
behavior, they should have access to and participate in the same suicide
prevention programs that are made available to other citizens. Providing
other citizens with suicide prevention programs while assisting and
counselling people with illness and disability to commit suicide is a gross
violation of the principle of full participation in community life and is
entirely unacceptable. Making it a crime to counsel a person to commit
suicide or to assist in the suicide of a person without a disability while
making it legal to counsel a person with disabilities to commit suicide or to
assist in the suicide of a person with a disability deprives people with
disabilities of equal protection of life and is also a gross violation of
human rights.
This problem could be averted if assisted suicide legislation were based on
safeguards related to ensuring that the decision was voluntary, informed,
rational, but not based on health or disability status.