NCD remembers Diane Coleman

Nov. 19, 2024

WASHINGTON–NCD remembers Diane Coleman, 71, who passed away Nov. 1.

Coleman drafted NCD’s groundbreaking 1997 paper “Assisted Suicide: A Disability Perspective,” which NCD re-issued in 2005. NCD also quoted her several times in our 2019 report on assisted suicide.

As a person with neuromuscular disabilities who used a motorized wheelchair, she was a strong advocate for disability rights. She is credited and known for pointing out the discriminatory double standard for who gets suicide prevention and who gets suicide assistance.

Diane worked as a lawyer for the State of California, multiple leadership roles at organizations for independent living and was active in the disability rights movement with the group ADAPT. She advocated in getting lifts on all buses and in passing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

In 1996 Diane started the non-profit Not Dead Yet, a national, grassroots disability rights group that opposes legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia as deadly forms of discrimination against old, ill and disabled people. She remained President/CEO until her death.

She co-authored Amicus Briefs filed in the U.S. Supreme Court and various state courts on behalf of Not Dead Yet and other national disability organizations on the topics of assisted suicide and surrogate health care decision making. She also presented invited testimony four times before Subcommittees of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

NCD mourns her passing and the community will miss her unyielding commitment to the rights of people with disabilities.