Carrie Ann Lucas interviewed by Wisconsin Public Radio's Joy Cardin
Channel: Not Dead Yet USA
Date: 2017-01-03

Disability rights lawyer Carrie Ann Lucas, executive director of Disabled Parents Rights and board member of Not Dead Yet, is interviewed by Joy Cardin of Wisconsin Public Radio on October 4, 2016. 

The show, titled "Does A Disabled Child Have The Right To Die?," discusses the case of 14-year-old Jerika Bolen of Appleton, Wisconsin, whose  suicide in September, 2016, was supported by family and community, and encouraged by local and national media. Jerika had the neurological condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II, which while progressive is not terminal.

Carrie Ann, who has a progressive neurological condition herself, led the effort to get county child protective services to intervene. It's unknown whether the county acted, but Jerika died 18 days after entering hospice, probably of dehydration/starvation under opiate sedation.

Carrie Ann shows that the only reason that Jerika did not receive vigorous suicide prevention services was because of her disability: Either suicide should be open to all teenagers, regardless of motive, she argues, or all teenagers should receive suicide prevention services. Otherwise it is disability discrimination.

New Mobility magazine recognized Carrie Ann Lucas and other disability rights advocates as superhero "Resisters" against the "better dead than disabled" mindset displayed in the Jerika Bolen case and in the summer 2016 movie "Me Before You." http://www.newmobility.com/2017/01/2016-people-year-resisters/

Image descriptions of the slides added to the YouTube video are at http://www.second-thoughts.org/blog/2016_%e2%80%93_01_%e2%80%93_05