via Ms Magazine Blog.  In an article called “Kervorkian and the Right to Choose,”  reproductive rights activist Carol King (not the singer) reviews the new HBO film “You Don’t Know Jack.”  She claims:

“The opposition to assisted suicide in Michigan was led by the same people (Right to Life of Michigan) who oppose abortion. . . The “right-to-lifers” enlisted the disabled in their cause when they cautioned that allowing people to choose to die would soon become their “duty to die.”

First off, it’s not appropriate to use a term like “the disabled” — it objectifies persons with disabilities. Also, the position of disability rights activists on the “right to die” movement is far more complex than King presents.  The group Not Dead Yet provides a solid argument against the devaluation of persons with disabilities implicit in Kervorkian’s work, while also critiquing the anti-abortion movement for co-opting the rhetoric of the disability rights movement.  For more on how to be a feminist AND an advocate for disability rights, see the FWD blog.