Estonia Supreme Court Declares a "right" to suicide.

This article was published by National Review online on May 6, 2025

By Wesley J Smith

Five years ago, the highest court in Germany declared that committing suicide is a fundamental right — for everybody and for any reason — and that being assisted or assisting others in the act are ancillary rights associated with that liberty. In other words, death on demand. Now the Supreme Court of Estonia appears to have followed the same course.

Here’s the context: A man who provided a suicide machine to those who wanted to kill themselves was acquitted of any culpability. He was charged, among other crimes, with providing health services without a license. But the Court ruled — quite logically and correctly — that helping someone commit suicide is not health care. From the ERR News story:

The Supreme Court noted that Tammert’s actions did not serve any of the legally required purposes of providing healthcare services. Current law does not recognize as treatment any activity that intentionally harms health. Therefore, causing death cannot be considered the provision of a healthcare service.

I wish our courts understood that assisted suicide — despite its being called euphemistically “medical aid in dying” — isn’t health care. It is simply suicide, or helping someone commit suicide.

If the Estonian court had left it at that, it would be one thing. But it ruled that committing suicide is a right, as is assisting and being assisted in doing so:

The Supreme Court further emphasized that every competent individual has the right to end their life voluntarily. Criminal liability for assisting in such an act can only arise if the person is unable to carry it out themselves or lacks full understanding of the significance of their actions.

The court called on the Estonian parliament to issue regulations to guide non-medical suicide facilitation. In other words, once again: death on demand.

At least these rulings candidly cut through the toxic smoke so often generated by assisted-suicide advocates who claim that the death agenda is about terminal illness or, indeed, physical illness or disability at all.

Here is the debate we should be having.

• Should suicide be a right?
• If people want to be dead, should they have a right to be assisted in terminating their lives?
• Are there any limits to personal autonomy?

Bottom line: The high court rulings in Estonia and Germany demonstrate that the real goal — or, at least, the destination — of assisted suicide advocacy is a right to death by any competent person for any cause and assisted by anyone.

So, let’s stop pretending that any of this is about medicine or health care. That conceit merely corrupts the medical profession.

And let’s face the fact that, to an increasing degree, the West is no longer an anti-suicide culture.

Sonu Gaind: Unravelling MAiD in Canada.

EPC has copies of the book Unravelling MAiD in Canada available for purchase.

Purchase the book from EPC for $40 (after tax) + shipping (Order Link).

Previous article: Ramona Coelho: Unravelling MAiD in Canada (Link).

The following speech was presented by Dr Gaind for the April 15 launch of the book: Unravelling MAiD in Canada.

Dr. Sonu Gaind is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and Chief of Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He is an Executive Member and Medical Practice & Tariff Chair of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Section on Psychiatry and Chair of the OMA Relativity Advisory Committee, and a Past-President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association.

Sonu Gaind speaking at book launch.

Dr K. Sonu Gaind

You know, we often say it’s the journey and not the destination, but in this case I’m not so sure. It’s been a pretty rough journey for many advocating in this area, and it is pretty great to finally see this important work see the light of day. 

I’m so appreciative of the chance to be standing here with my co editors, Ramona Coelho and Trudo Lemmens, as we launch this book. I truly hope it contributes to our national discourse as we, as a society, continue navigating the challenging waters of how, and what, we should or should not be helping people die for. I also want to thank all of our authors, whose wisdom and compassion shine through both in this volume and through their own advocacy, and also our publisher McGill/Queen’s University Press for their support and guidance through this process.

And of course, thank all of you for being here today, both in person and online (we have another about 40 or 50 people online ). A particular shout out to my dad, who couldn’t be here for health reasons but is watching - Dada, I think by now you’ve probably read and re-read the book more carefully than me, Trudo and Ramona put together. And while I’m doing shout outs, the loudest has to be to my wife Lystra and my kids Dante and Sabine even when this work has taken me away from you, you’ve always still been there for me.

When I look around this room I’m amazed by the range of friends and colleagues who have come out to celebrate this occasion with us. Thank you all so much. We have university colleagues, hospital and workplace colleagues, old friends and new confreres we’ve met and made through this journey. The diversity is remarkable, and I think a testament to how important this issue is, and how deeply people want to think about and engage in it, if given a chance.

Why we might choose, as a society, to provide death to fellow Canadians is a hugely complex issue, and one that should engender robust and honest debate. It’s legitimate to debate when it might be compassionate to help relieve suffering, versus when it might be abandonment to facilitate suicide.

Unfortunately that honest debate is not what has driven our MAiD expansion so far. Instead, as outlined in my chapter, Fall of Duty: The Breach of Trust and Moral Failure of Canada’s Entrusted Experts, and other chapters in the book, we’ve had troubling processes that have led to Canada becoming the world’s canary in a coal mine on euthanasia expansion. As Trudo will mention, the United Nations has explicitly raised concerns that our own policy makers refuse to acknowledge, of the existential risks our current MAiD expansions pose to marginalized Canadians.

That’s why I think this book is so important. From lived experience, expertise, cultural considerations and lenses of diversity, the authors unflinchingly explore not only why our most privileged, who have lived well and want autonomy to die well, might seek MAiD; but also why our most marginalized, struggling with access to social care, who society never afforded a chance to live with dignity, might (and are) increasingly seeking available euthanasia to escape life's suffering.

What we provide death for is the flip side of how we help people live.

It’s not an easy message to hear, but it’s an essential one, since I can’t think of much that defines us more as a society is that we help people live with dignity before they need to "choose" death as their only option. And for bringing these perspectives forward with eloquence, clarity, humanity and humility, often in the face of privileged voices trying to stifle any cautions, I’m deeply grateful to all our authors and co-editors to have been part of this endeavour.

Book Launch on April 15, 2025 (Link to Video)

Coroners inquest into the euthanasia death of man with a bed sore

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Normand Meunier

Rachel Watts reported for CBC News on April 12, 2024 that a quadriplegic man, Normand Meunier (66) died by (MAiD) euthanasia after developing a severe bedsore at a hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Québec. Meunier experienced a tragic spinal chord injury in 2022. Normand died by euthanasia on March 29, 2024.

Gordon Friesen, the President of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition responded to the Meunier death by stating:

Gordon Friesen

In January, 2024, Normand Meunier visited the emergency department of a major regional hospital in the Province of Quebec, the jurisdiction with the highest euthanasia rate in the world.

Meunier was complaining of a potentially life-threatening respiratory infection which was successfully treated during his stay. And yet, before he was even formally admitted to hospital, this patient spent 95 hours on a stretcher in the emergency corridor, resulting in a severe pressure sore which ultimately decided him to end his own life through consent to Medical Assistance in Dying.

A Coroner's inquest in St-Jerome Québec is investigating the death of Normand Meunier. Steve Rukavina reported for CBC News on May 5 that:

Sylvie Brosseau, her voice breaking and her eyes moist, spoke of her husband's final days over a year after he sought medical assistance in dying following a hospital stay that left him with a severe and painful bedsore.

"His last two weeks…it was horror," she told reporters during a break in the public inquiry into his death that began Monday morning in Montreal.

"I hope this will change things, because even now nothing has changed."

Normand Meunier, 66, who was quadriplegic, was stuck on a stretcher in an emergency room at a hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Que., for four days in January of last year.

During his stay, Meunier didn't have access to a special mattress and developed a major pressure sore on his buttocks. It eventually worsened to the point where bone and muscle were exposed and visible — making his recovery and prognosis bleak.

He was told the sore — a gaping hole a few centimetres in diameter — would, at best, take several months to heal, according to the experts he consulted.

"It was horrible. He had no buttocks. There was nothing left," Brosseau said.

The day before his death, Meunier spoke to Radio-Canada and said he preferred putting an end to his physical and psychological suffering by opting for a medically assisted death.

Meunier died on March 29, 2024.

Steve Rukavina reported for CBC News on May 6 that:

Brigitte Guilbon, a licensed practical nurse who was part of Meunier's care team from 2022 until his death in March 2024, testified Tuesday at the coroner's inquiry looking into the 66-year-old's death. 

Guilbon testified she had never seen a wound like the one Meunier returned home with after being stuck on a stretcher for four days in the emergency room. 

"His morale was very, very low, and the sore was horrible," Guilbon testified, wiping her eyes as her voice broke. 

As Guilbon described the gaping, blackened wound on Meunier's buttocks a few centimetres in diameter, coroner Dave Kimpton requested a brief recess, noting the testimony was difficult for Meunier's partner, Sylvie Brosseau, to hear. 

When the hearing resumed, Kimpton said future witnesses would not be asked to describe the wound in detail, to spare Brosseau from having to hear the description repeatedly.
Meunier was quadriplegic and prone to bedsores. Guilbon testified he had to be turned every two hours in order to prevent them. 

She said before the hospital stay in late January 2024, she and other members of Meunier's care team were able to keep his recurring bedsores "stable" and "under control." 

Guilbon said before Meunier was admitted to hospital with a suspected virus on Jan. 18, 2024, his general state was good. 

During the hospital stay, Meunier didn't have access to a special pressure mattress that he normally used at home, despite Brosseau making repeated requests to hospital staff. 

Guilbon testified she was shocked when she first saw Meunier's bedsore on Feb. 1, 2024, after he returned home from hospital, saying she had never seen such a wound in her 15-year career. 

She said she questioned whether he should've even been released from hospital, and that she believed the bandage and treatment of the bedsore at the hospital were not appropriate. 

Guilbon said she and the home-care team did their best to care for the wound, but it continued to deteriorate in the weeks following Meunier's hospital stay. 

She said at the time, Meunier wasn't sleeping well and was very worried about his prognosis. 

Brigitte Cyr, the head of the home-care department for the CLSC that provided care to Meunier, also testified Tuesday. 

She said she first became aware of Meunier's case on Feb. 2, 2024, when his occupational therapist asked to meet with her. 

Cyr said the the occupational therapist was "a bit panicked" as she recounted what home-care nurses and Brosseau had said about Meunier's extended stay on a stretcher in the ER and the bedsore he developed. 

Then Cyr saw a photo of the bedsore. She said it defied imagination. 

"I said to myself, 'my god, what happened?'" she testified. 

Cyr said she immediately followed up with the hospital and arranged for Meunier to be readmitted for a treatment that can be painful, known as debridement, which involves removing damaged tissue from a wound to help it heal better. 

She says she also made inquiries to try to determine what went wrong during Meunier's hospital stay but had trouble getting clear answers.

Sylvie Brosseau, Normand Meunier's wife, was constantly at his side after his accident.

Gordon Friesen responded to the death of Normand Meunier by stating - In a word: Bad care produces more euthanasia. And more euthanasia enables more bad care.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Delta Hospice Society Press Conference at Parliamentary Press Gallery on May 7.

Press Release:

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Delta Hospice Society.
Parliamentary Press Gallery Room 135-B West Block Ottawa, 

Wednesday, May 7 at 9 am.

(Link to Press Conference recording)

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg, the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and Angelina Ireland, the Executive Director of the Delta Hospice Society will be launching our new post election directions.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is demanding a full-review of Canada’s MAiD law. Schadenberg points out that:

On March 21, 2025 The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) urged the Canadian government to repeal Track 2 MAiD (MAiD for people who are not terminally ill) including the planned expansion to persons who “sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” to reject proposals to expand MAiD to “mature minors” and through advance requests.

On October 17, 2024 the Ontario MAiD Death Review Committee (MDRC) report indicated that there were 428 non-compliant MAiD deaths in Ontario.

Angelina Ireland

The Delta Hospice Society is demanding that Healthcare Sanctuary be accepted as a human right for all Canadians. Facilities where they provide authentic healthcare, as opposed to “MAiD.” Angelina Ireland states that:

The world is watching the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the predatory euthanasia program known as MAiD.

The Canadian healthcare system is an international embarrassment as it turns against its own people to euthanize them.

For more information contact:

Alex Schadenberg: Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
519-851-1434

Angelina Ireland: Executive Director, Delta Hospice Society
778-512-8088

EPC Zoom event on Tuesday May 13. Celebrating 10 Million blog hits.

We invite you to ioin: Wesley Smith, Dr Margaret Cottle and Alex Schadenberg as we celebrate a milestone (10 Million epcblog.org hits) and we discuss our continued efforts to prevent euthanasia and assisted suicide. The issue remains the same even if the political and cultural conditions have changed.

When: Tuesday, May 13, 2025 2:00 PM Eastern Time / 11 AM Pacific Time.
Register in advance for the meeting (Registration Link)

 

Wesley with Alex

Wesley Smith is a bio-ethicist, philosopher, lawyer and has writen 14 books. His first article opposing assisted suicide was published in 1992. Since then he has written hundreds of articles, he has been a speaker throughout North America and world-wide and he has been a leading voice in opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide.

 

Alex Schadenberg is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Alex has published more than 2300 articles, published books, produced video's and has been a speaker throughout North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Alex has worked full-time to prevent euthanasia and assisted suicide since 1999.

 

Dr Margaret Cottle

Dr Margaret Cottle is a Vancouver palliative care physician and clinical assistant professor at UBC Medical School. She is also an early leader of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and has written extensively and continues to speak out against euthanasia and assisted suicide.

 

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition blog is the world's largest source of information on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

 

Register in advance for the meeting (Registration Link)

Alberta Autistic woman approved for euthanasia again.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Unheard published an article on May 3, 2025 by Alexander Raikin telling the story with pseudonyms, of the Alberta family, who's autistic daughter has been approved for euthanasia. Due to a publication ban, it is impossible to share actual names. 

This story is of particular importance because Marge (MV is the name used by the court) has been approved for euthanasia again. Raikin writes:

On 31 January, 2024, Wade was running out of time. He had tried everything to persuade his 28-year-old daughter, Marge, that she could get better. But Marge had been scheduled to die by assisted suicide at 2 p.m. the next day at the family’s home in Alberta, Canada. He was horrified. Marge was autistic, vulnerable, and had no diagnosed physical illness. Her autism made her different from her peers — and lonely, no doubt — but Wade knew this was no reason to terminate a young life.

He had to do something. So he went to the courts. The legal claim he filed on that frigid winter day would put Wade on a quest no father should have to face: saving his daughter’s life from a Canadian health system that at times appears more committed to delivering death than protecting health. By taking legal action, he managed to delay Marge’s death for a while. But he may be set to lose the battle.

Raikin further explains the dilemma:

The last physician to assess her for assisted suicide, a family doctor practicing with the Alberta Health Services (AHS), took fewer than 24 hours to review and approve her application. And although the neurologist treating her for fatigue and pain assessed her as “normal”, another family doctor, unknown to her parents, declared her to be terminally ill.

The father tells Raikin that his daughter's only diagnosed conditions are autism and ADHD and yet she was approved for death. Raikin explains that the daughter first applied for euthanasia in 2021:

It was 2021 when Marge first filled out the form — without telling her parents — asking to die. AHS, the public health-care system, connected her with two physicians. Although one physician deemed her eligible without any diagnosed physical symptoms, according to Wade, the second denied her application, presumably because she had no terminal illness. She seems to have only met some of the requirements, although it is impossible to know for sure without access to her MAiD assessment. Alberta’s policy was that in the case of a tie, the suicide would not proceed.

Raikin explains that the daughter went doctor shopping with the intention of applying for euthanasia again:

In 2022, she went doctor-shopping. She found another physician, an Alberta family practitioner, who intervened and supported her (their clinic didn’t reply to UnHerd’s request for comment). Unknown to the family, this doctor signed a change in her “Goals of Care Designation”, which is the medical standard used in Alberta to indicate how severely ill someone is. The doctor switched it to the most extreme category, which in some Canadian provinces indicates the likelihood of imminent death; that was almost three years ago.

In 2023 the daughter was approved for death by euthanasia.

The following year, in 2023, she applied for assisted dying a second time. Once again, the two physicians consulted disagreed. (The clinics at which these two practice didn’t reply to UnHerd’s request for comment; AHS declined to comment, citing the court case.) This time, however, the so-called MAiD navigator, who sherpas patients through the process, connected Marge with a third doctor as a “tiebreaker”. The chosen physician was the same one who had approved Marge’s MAiD application the first time, and did so again, within 24 hours.

Rankin explains that the father launched a court case to save his daughters life.

Her father couldn’t understand how any doctor could think Marge was qualified to die. “I thought MAiD was for, like, you’re dying anyway. So, we’ll just speed it up because you’re suffering. That’s what I thought it was for”, he tells me. “And I’m thinking, well, how could this be for Marge?” So, the day before her “MAiD provider” was meant to pay a final house visit, when a physician and a nurse would bring the lethal but now routine injection of a sedative, a coma-inducting agent, and a neuromuscular tranquiliser, Wade filed a last-minute court challenge. He claimed that Marge did not have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition”, that her only diagnosed illnesses were mental, not physical, and that her second tie-breaking assessor was not independent.

The initial judge granted a temporary injunction that prevented the euthanasia death. The case went to court. Rankin reports that:

The judge, Justice Colin Feasby, of the Court of King’s Bench, Alberta, ruled that Marge’s father had a reasonable cause of action that the correct protocols around assisted dying weren’t followed. Marge had no terminal illness. Neither of the MAiD assessors appeared to be experts on Marge’s autism. And the independent assessor appointed as tiebreaker wasn’t, either.

The Canadian law provides no avenue for the judge to prevent a euthanasia death. Rankin reports:

Once it came to ruling on the substance of the dispute, however, the judge wouldn’t consider whether Marge qualified for assisted suicide; no evidence was accepted on even naming the condition for which she was approved. Any criminal prosecution, the judge ruled, could only happen after Marge is dead: “Parliament has put its trust in doctors and nurse practitioners, and it is not for this Court to second guess that choice.”

A court challenge was launched based on the part of the law that allows euthanasia for people who are not terminally ill. Rankin states:

In September, some of the largest Canadian disability groups launched a constitutional challenge against euthanasia based on non-terminal disabilities. The suit claimed it is an “appalling injustice” to offer suicide just on the grounds of disability. “It is not just wrong”, says Krista Carr, the executive vice president of Inclusion Canada, in an email to me. “It is discriminatory and violates our most fundamental rights.”

Rankin explains that even if the disability organizations are successful in their court challenge, that it won't happen in time to save the autistic woman. 

The father spent more than $150,000 on the court case and his daughter has been approved for euthanasia again.

Articles on this story:

• Euthanasia Prevention Coalition gains intervention standing in Calgary court case (Link).
• Calgary autistic woman is a victim of the "right to die" movement (Link).
  
• Great news: Judge prevents euthanasia death of Calgary autistic woman (Link). 
• Father of a 27-year-old autistic woman appeals court ruling in euthanasia decision (Link).
  

Belgium debates expanding euthanasia to people with dementia

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Chris Eyte wrote an article that was published by Christian Daily on May 5, 2025 reporting that Belgium is debating extending their euthanasia law to include people with dementia.

I published an article on April 16, 2025 reporting that the Netherlands D66 political party are promoting euthanasia for people with dementia.

Eyte stated that the proposed changes would mark a significant expansion to Belgium’s euthanasia law. Eyte reports that since legalization in 2002, there have been 37,606 reported euthanasia deaths in Belgium, as of 2023. Eyte writes:

The bill was introduced in Belgium’s Federal Parliament on Sept. 4, 2024. Two members of the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats—Irina de Knop, mayor of Lennik, and Katja Gabriëls—have been leading voices in favor of the amendment.

Euthanasia is about killing people. 

Euthanasia is sold to the public as providing competent adults who are freely capable of consenting the option of euthanasia.

As bad as euthanasia is, euthanasia for people with dementia concerns killing people who are incompetent and not capable of consenting. It is not about freedom, choice or autonomy.

Your Taxes, Their Death.

The following opinion article was published by Kelsi Sheren on her substack on May 1, 2025.

Kelsi Sheren

By Kelsi Sheren

You're paying to kill your neighbours.

I've had some time since the election to really sit with what just happened and honestly, I'm still dumbfounded by the collective decision made by those who voted Liberal. But instead of just stewing in disbelief, I wanted to dig deeper and confront what we're truly seeing here.

Canada feels like it's trapped in a bizarre, decade-long abusive relationship with its own government, a toxic cycle reminiscent of Stockholm syndrome. Since Canadians once again chose to re-elect a Liberal government, it’s important that we tell everyone know what they just co-signed.

Most of you reading my work already know my mission: exposing uncomfortable truths and confronting the issues plaguing Canada and the world. Right now and for the foreseeable future my focus is the disturbing expansion of the pro death movement and MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying). This issue hit’s close to home for many reasons, and I thought you’d all like to know where a decent amount of your hard earned money is going. Even if you're someone who believes in MAiD, you owe it to yourself to understand what's really happening isn’t some beautiful thing, this isn't compassion.

It’s commodification.

Do you honestly think the government would let something like a recession interfere with one of its most profitable industries? Death is recession proof. Death is profitable and in Canada, death is generously funded with YOUR tax dollars. We’ve been conditioned to look away, convinced this is about dignity, compassion, and personal choice. Canada is the “free people society” where we can have anything! but peel back the layers, and you’ll find something so dark, so sinister and anything but compassion. A slick government-funded death industry propped up by grants, lobbyists, and carefully sanitized bureaucratic language.

It’s singular purpose?

Normalizing and expanding state-sanctioned death.

Yes, killing.

As a form of healthcare.

KILLING.

Let’s look at the MAiD industrial complex and where your money really goes and who is actually profiting from it.

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC)

Far from grassroots, this influential pro-euthanasia, pro death, pro giving up group received $204,655 in 2021 and $222,077 in 2020 directly from the government, your tax money. Nearly half a million dollars funnelled into lobbying and advocacy aimed at expanding death.

Not for mental health

Not for supportive housing

Not for palliative care

Just straight propaganda convincing Canadians they should die.

Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors & Providers (CAMAP)

The Liberal government handed CAMAP $3.3 million to develop MAiD training programs. Sit on this one for a second. MILLIONS spent to build a pipeline of “providers” incentivized to say "yes" to killing. Healthcare has become an industry not unlike the military industrial complex but designed as “healthcare” Geared to maximize profit by scaling up the practice of killing. More killers, more deaths, more efficiency—and yes, horrifyingly, more profit.

MAiDHouse …..yes a whole building. 2 actually. 1 in Victoria BC and 1 in Toronto. Yes, this exists. A supposed "charity," explicitly established in 2019 to facilitate KILLING. No hospice care, no healing programs just a carefully crafted, boutique environment dedicated entirely to death, financed by your money.

Imagine for a minute if even a fraction of these millions went toward genuine solutions, mental health resources, veteran support, trauma recovery, or housing initiatives.

Think about how many lives could have been transformed or saved. But there’s no profit in healing, is there? Here’s what Canadians who just don’t understand, your taxes actively fund organizations dedicated to facilitating death over life for vulnerable populations. Are you aware that while you or loved ones struggle to access timely mental health care, taxpayer-funded organizations actively present death as the quicker alternative?

Do you know they’re expanding MAiD for mental illness only in 2027 and lobbying to include eligibility to “mature” minors … these are your children.

This isn’t conspiracy, it’s our reality. It’s Canada’s quietly expanding euthanasia empire, thriving because of YOUR taxes. If I were you. I’d start asking why is accessing euthanasia easier than getting trauma therapy?

Why are we fast-tracking death while mental health care remains underfunded and inaccessible? Why are millions spent training killers instead of investing in supportive housing, poverty reduction, or hospice care? WHY!!! do we call it “dying with dignity” when people often choose death out of poverty, neglect, and untreated emotional pain?

Here’s the real answer.

HEALING IS COSTLY.

Allowing or encouraging them to die is cheap.

This isn’t about “personal dignity” or compassion. It's calculated hopelessness. It's about quietly removing individuals deemed too expensive or burdensome, all disguised as mercy and compassion.

It’s state-approved despair, neatly packaged for public acceptance. You're being sold a narrative carefully crafted to feel compassionate, supported by so-called charities, and bankrolled by you, the good, nice taxpayer.

WAKE UP.

You're funding a death cult, maybe not by choice, but definitely by default. Here’s the thing, in my coaching practice I learned quickly that once you become aware of a behaviour you now have the chance to change something.

I’ve now made you, the readers aware of what you're funding

What are you going to do about it?

Demand that your tax dollars fund life, not death. Start asking the hard questions. Demand accountability. Demand transparency. Follow your money.

Because if we remain silent, the next expansion might target someone you love.

Or worse, it will be you.

New York Post editorial opposing assisted suicide.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition sent an Action alert on April 30, after the New York state Assembly passed an assisted suicide bill by a 81 to 67 margin.

On April 24, the New York Post published an editorial opposing the legalization of assisted suicide. Here is what the New York Post published:

New York’s progressive legislators have reportedly gotten behind what may be their most morally disgraceful bill yet: an assisted-suicide legalization push.

Worse, per Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx), the bill has the votes to pass, which may happen as early as next week.

This must. Not. Happen.

Assisted suicide is sold to the public as a form of compassion — yet another inversion of reality.

In practice, it is anything but.

The trouble is, the promised reservation of assisted suicide to the chronically ill and elderly seems somehow always to get expanded.

Until it encompasses young, physically healthy people like Zoraya ter Beek, whom the Dutch state permitted to take her own life because she was depressed.

Or, as is the case with Canada, the poor, the disabled and the marginalized.

Like Alan Nichols, a down-on-his-luck man with a history of mental illness who listed “hearing loss” as the only health reason for his own euthanasia — which, shockingly, was then granted.

The Trudeau government even tried to sell veteran and paralympian Christine Gauthier on suicide, simply because she fought to have the Veterans’ Affairs department install a wheelchair ramp at her house.

The idea that fiscal calculations, i.e. that it’s cheaper simply to kill people like Nichols and Gauthier than to help them, didn’t play some role here is dubious, at best.

In the US, Oregon — the pioneer on OKing this insanity — is already mulling the idea of expanding the class of people authorized to prescribe suicide drugs to include nurse practitioners and vastly shortening the wait time from 15 to two days.

Vermont might include literal quacks on the list of people allowed to help people kill themselves.

It’s the slipperiest of slippery slopes, in other words.

And a slap in the face to the nearly 3 million Catholics in the state who oppose assisted suicide on religious grounds.

And this is New York, remember, where the state couldn’t even manage to roll out a legal cannabis initiative without turning it into a complete disaster.

And where within recent memory, a governor shoved old people with COVID into nursing homes to die and kill others just to make himself look better on television and earn $5 million from a book.

Even under the sanest and stablest of governments, state-sanctioned euthanasia is obscene.

Here, it would be a Boschian nightmare.

Gov. Hochul, this issue is an easy win: Keep fighting the good fight, stand up to the extremists in your own party and stop this madness if and when it reaches your desk. 

Previous article on this topic:

Action is needed: New York state Assembly passes assisted suicide bill (Link).

 

UN Demands Change: Canada Must End MAiD for people without Terminal Illness

Dr Yuriko Ryan

By Dr Yuriko Ryan

On March 21, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities issued a resounding call, featured in the Globe and Mail article, “Canada must repeal medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for individuals without terminal illnesses.” This global mandate is more than a mere bureaucratic policy recommendation. It represents a global clarion call to confront a dangerous policy trajectory to a country once known for safeguarding human rights. Reckless expansions of MAiD beyond imminent death not only weaken our social safety net but also imperils the very dignity and human rights Canada proclaims to protect.

The Broken Safety Net and the Rights Fallacy

When MAiD expansions encompass chronic disabilities or severe mental health challenges, they stray from the essence of our basic rights to life. Blake Murdoch’s April 22, 2024, opinion piece—“Canada’s broken social safety net pushes people toward assisted dying”— lays bare the systemic gaps forcing desperate choices. It becomes painfully clear that our society is failing those who need care the most. For the UN, fundamental human rights are about ensuring that every person receives the respect, dignity, and security inherent in their existence, setting a global standard for freedom and equality. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as part of Canada’s supreme law, similarly protects these core rights, providing a legal backbone that guarantees a life of dignity and freedom for everyone in Canada. Ensuring a dignified life and securing the existence of individuals living with disabilities and facing mental health challenges is a critical necessity in Canada.

Humanity Under Siege: A Slippery Slope Toward Devaluing Life

Broadening MAiD eligibility sends a chilling message that some lives are deemed less worthy of support. This approach risks transforming what should be a humane response to suffering into a mechanism that subtly coerces the vulnerable toward death. As highlighted by Dr. Ramona Coelho in “Canadians with disabilities are dying needlessly” (October 28, 2024), inadequate disability and mental health supports are directly linked to the increasing reliance on “medically” assisted dying. When death becomes an all-too-accessible solution to systemic social failures, Canada edges dangerously close to practices observed in nations with tarnished human rights records.

A Crisis of Priorities: The Undermining of Basic Human Rights

While Canadians are currently bombarded with political campaign promises about the economy, housing, and border security, we must not lose sight of our nation’s foundational value: respect for human dignity. These policy debates, crucial as they are, cannot flourish on a bedrock of policies that allow the vulnerable to be set aside. When the state offers death as an alternative to genuine care, every political pitch on economic growth or secure borders rings hollow. The UN’s urgent demand to repeal non-terminal MAiD is a stark reminder that without a commitment to upholding basic human rights, all other achievements come at a moral cost.

Legislative Lapses and the Pressure of Ideological Elites

The current policy environment is marred by the legislative lapses and the influence of ideological elites closely tied with MAiD expansionists. Bill C-7 did expand the MAiD framework to include a pathway for individuals whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. Notably, the MAiD expansion to encompass mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition was proposed, as an add-on to the Bill, by a senator who is also a psychiatrist. Despite the proposal’s clear implications for vulnerable populations, it remains unimplemented amid significant push-back from both citizens and various political factions. This hesitancy underscores how, in some cases, legislators can cease to be steadfast guardians of human rights. The writings of ideological elites, Karl Binding, a controversial jurist, and Alfred Hoche, a psychiatrist, in Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life during 1920s Germany, stand as grim historical precedents for today’s trajectory in Canada—a society that privileges “the strong and fit” while abandoning its most vulnerable.

A Call for True Compassion and Concrete Reform

The UN’s emphatic message compels us to reassess not only our legal framework but our entire moral compass. Repealing non-terminal MAiD is not a rejection of individual autonomy, it is a necessary stand for the inherent worth of every life. If Canada fails to address these systemic issues, every political win claiming to improve the economy or secure our borders will be undermined by a failure to respect basic human rights.

Canada now stands at a crossroads. As millions of Canadians head to the polls later this month, the powerful public voices in the media alongside the global call from the UN, compel us to choose the path of true compassion and reform. It is time to put human dignity first by repealing non-terminal MAiD and reaffirming the values upon which our great North is built. 

Your powerful voice matters.

Dr. Yuriko Ryan is a Canadian bioethicist and gerontologist who explores emerging topics including end-of-life care, mental health and addiction, and artificial intelligence. She is an ethicist with more than 25 years experience in health policy research and healthcare administration. She has a doctorate in bioethics and a Master's degree in gerontology from Simon Fraser University.

EPC (Election Analysis) Zoom event on Monday May 5.

    Canadian election euthanasia (MAiD) analysis.

Join the EPC (Election Analysis) Zoom event on Monday May 5 at 12 noon (Eastern Time) / 9 am (Pacific Time)

EPC Executive Director, Alex Schadenberg, EPC President, Gordon Friesen and Kelsi Sheren will discuss the Canadian election results and our concerns for the immediate future.

Gordon Friesen

Register for the Zoom Meeting (Registration Link). You will receive the meeting link, after you register.

We will discuss our concern that: 

• euthanasia for mental illness alone is currently scheduled to begin on March 17, 2027. 
• We will also discuss the push to extend the law to include euthanasia by advance request and euthanasia for "mature minors."
• Alex Schadenberg will unveil the latest EPC strategy / campaign.

Register for the Zoom Meeting (Registration Link).
You will receive the meeting link, after you register.

In Canada: Euthanasia is sometimes easier to access than medical treatment

This article was published by National Review online on April 23, 2025.

Wesley Smith

By Wesley J Smith

The Canadian health care system is melting down — and yet the country still embraces radical euthanasia policies.

Here’s a current example: A woman injured in an auto accident has waited nearly two years for a consultation with a spinal surgeon — despite now having to use a wheelchair. So, she wants to come to the U.S. for a simple diagnosis, which will cost $40,000! From the CBC story:

A London woman injured in a car crash says she’s left with no choice but to pay to see a doctor in the United States after waiting almost two years for a diagnosis from an Ontario spine surgeon.

Sydney Gesualdi was rear-ended at a red light in July 2023, after which she was initially diagnosed with whiplash and tissue damage. In the weeks that followed, the 25-year-old lost the ability to walk, started having trouble swallowing and speaking, and had numbness in her face and limbs.

“None of these symptoms have gone away, and it’s been almost two years,” Gesualdi said. “I’m 25 and I can’t walk.”

She now has to use a wheelchair and wears a neck brace at all times. Gesualdi’s family physician has referred her to eight doctors at spinal clinics across the province, but so far, she’s been denied a consultation.

CBC News has seen the rejections from Toronto Western Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and Trillium Spine Centre. Wait times and heavy caseloads are cited as the reason for not taking the patient, as well as the condition potentially being outside the scope of practice. 

What a bitter tragedy. Ill and disabled Canadians with non-life-threatening but serious conditions have no assurance of prompt medical care, and some people wait in agony for many months — or, as in this case, years — to receive proper clinical services.

At the same time, in Canada, disabled and non-terminally-ill patients are eligible for euthanasia, and the homicide can take place within 90 days of the patient’s being deemed qualified. For patients whose deaths are “reasonably foreseeable,” there is no waiting time required once eligibility has been established.

It may also be far less difficult to secure a death doctor than a treating physician, since the killing process is much faster. As a result, there have already been cases in which euthanasia was chosen by patients precisely because proper care was so long in coming. What a travesty.

The U.K. has some of the same access problems, and it is perilously close to legalizing assisted suicide anyway. Meanwhile, assisted suicide might become legal in Delaware and perhaps other blue states this year.

None are so blind as those who refuse to see.

Action is needed: New York state assembly passes assisted suicide bill.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

New York State Legislature

On April 28 the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition issued an Action Alert  concerning the New York assisted suicide Bill (A136 / SB 138).

Bad news: On April 29 the New York State Assembly passed the assisted suicide bill (A136) by a 81 to 67 vote.

We need you to contact members of the New York State Senate Health Committee (Link to Senate Health Committee) to express your opposition to Senate Bill SB 138.

I am concerned that the assisted suicide bill is being pushed through based on a budget deal with the Governor.

Before writing the article on April 28, I looked at the "actions" concerning the assisted suicide bill and I found no indication that the bill would be voted on so quickly.

An article by Vaughn Golden that was published in the New York Post explained that the issue of assisted suicide was discussed in a special budget meeting. Golden reported that supporters of assisted suicide claimed that they had the votes to get the assisted suicide bill passed.

The article did not actually state that the assisted suicide bill was part of a political "trade off" to get the budget passed, but assisted suicide was discussed in the special budget meeting. This would not be the first time that an assisted suicide bill was prioritised as part of budget negotiations.

We urge you to contact members of the New York State Senate Health Committee (Link to Senate Health Committee) to express your opposition to assisted suicide Senate Bill SB 138.

There are many reasons to oppose assisted suicide.

The primary reason is that assisted suicide involves the intentional killing of a person by a lethal poison cocktail. The promoters of assisted suicide claim that this is an autonomous act, but it is not autonomous because it requires the involvement of two doctors who agree that the persons life is not worth living with one of them prescribing the lethal poison cocktail for the purpose of suicide.

Nearly every state that has legalized assisted suicide, has expanded their law.

The New York sponsors of the assisted suicide bill claim that it is a "tightly worded" bill. The assisted suicide lobby uses a "bait and switch" technique to sell assisted suicide with a "tightly worded bill" and if the bill passes they pressure the state to expand their laws or force them to expand their law with a court case later. (Article Link).

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, who is the sponsor of the bill, stated (starting at 18:40) at an event that:

We've been criticized by some organizations that actually want an expansion to that but we've held firm because... we want to get this passed first.

People with eating disorders are dying by assisted suicide.

An article by Jennifer Brown that was in the Colorado Sun on March 14, 2022 reported that Dr. Jennifer Gaudiani, an internal medicine doctor who specializes in eating disorders published a paper on assisted suicide for people with Anorexia Nervosa in Colorado. Gaudiani approved assisted suicide for Anorexia Nervosa by falsely defining the condition as terminal.

Assisted suicide creates two tier medicine

Some suicidal people are offered suicide prevention while others are provided assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is inherently discriminatory.

We believe in caring for people not killing them.

Assisted suicide is an act of providing a poison cocktail to someone who is living with suicidal ideation, often related to their health concerns.

Assisted suicide constitutes killing. We believe in caring for people not killing them at their time of need.