Boston Disability Advisory Board Defers Vote on Medical Aid in Dying Letter

BOSTON -- October 25, 2023, Boston's Disability Commission Advisory Board heard competing views on state medical aid in dying legislation and took no formal action, deferring any advocacy letter to its November 8 meeting. Board Chair Wesley Ireland presided over presentations from Michael Martinetti, a Lexington resident with Friedreich's ataxia who uses a power wheelchair, and Dr. Roger Quigley, a retired internist with stage four metastatic prostate cancer, who cited Beacon Research polling showing 68 percent of people with disabilities support the option, rising to 78 percent when informed of the bill's safeguards. Board members pressed the presenters on physician independence requirements and poll sample sizes, with member Elizabeth Dean Clower raising research on physician bias toward disability. Disability Commissioner Kristen Akash confirmed no vote had been taken at any prior meeting, and staff noted the board's August session had ended in a tie; the Boston Center for Independent Living has separately voted to take no position on the bill. In other business, board member Carl Richardson urged the city to expand audible pedestrian signal poles with vibrating buttons for deafblind travelers, and the commissioner confirmed those features are included in forthcoming updated state regulations.