Organization

The National Catholic Partnership on Disability sets forth the following framework as a guide to the Church’s ministry for and with people with mental illness:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) modified the OPTN Final Rule to include VCAs among transplantable organs, effective July 3, 2014. At its June meeting, the OPTN Board adopted an interim policy, without public comment but with a September 1, 2015, sunset provision. The VCA Transplantation Committee has solicited public comment on a proposal to make such policy permanent. Both provisions would permit living VCA donations.

My name is Stephen L. Mikochik. On behalf of NCPD and the thousands of disabled Maryland Catholics it serves, I testify in opposition to S.B. 676, which, in legalizing assisted suicide, is an open invitation to patient abuse.

To Committee Chairs Stone and Bonta:
My name is Stephen L. Mikochik. I am Professor Emeritus of Constitutional Law at Temple University in Philadelphia and past Chair of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD). On behalf of NCPD and the thousands of disabled Catholics it serves, I would urge you, should it reach your desk, to veto Assembly Bill (AB) 15 that, in legalizing assisted suicide, is an open invitation to patient abuse.

"On behalf of both the National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD), whose Ethics and Public Policy Committee I chair, as well as the National Catholic Bioethics Center (NCBC), as Director of Bioethics and Public Policy, I am writing to request that your Committee refuse to endorse LB 1056: Patient Choice at End of Life Act."

"Catholics with disabilities, like all Catholics, are incorporated in the Body of Christ as integral members. They, like any other member, belong to the faith community."

Words can sustain negative stigma and myths or they can communicate respect and sensitivity.
When you meet a person with a disability, choose words that say what you mean--that you see them
first as a person with many abilities. Talk to the person directly,
instead of their companion or interpreter.
Ask if assistance is needed, rather than assuming it is. Use a normal tone of voice. We tend to raise our voice to compensate
for any perceived disability. If the person cannot hear or understand you, they will let you know.

Ways to create a pro-life culture with persons living with mental illness.