Assisted Suicide – Page 2

Canada Killed a Record 16,499 People Through Assisted Suicide Last Year

Dec 29, 2025Jerry CoxEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Church Ambassador Network, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life, Update

Canada killed a record 16,499 people through physician-assisted suicide in 2024, according to new data from the government.

The Canadian government released its Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in November. The report shows euthanasia and assisted suicide are on the rise in Canada and now account for roughly one in twenty deaths in the country.

All told, more than 76,000 people have died through Canada’s euthanasia program since the country legalized assisted suicide in 2016.

The numbers reveal a troubling trend that should serve as a warning to Arkansas and other states.

Canada operates two different “tracks” for assisted suicide. Track 1 lets doctors kill patients whose natural death is “reasonably foreseeable” — meaning they are terminally ill. But Track 2 allows euthanasia for people who are not dying at all.

Track 2 deaths increased by 17% in 2024, with 732 people killed even though they were not terminally ill. These victims tended to be younger, more likely to be women, and far more likely to be living with a disability.

The reasons people gave for choosing death are deeply concerning. The report shows that loneliness and isolation were factors in nearly 22% of Track 1 deaths and 45% of Track 2 deaths. That means at least 3,800 people were killed in Canada last year partly because they felt lonely.

Many of these patients needed counseling and support — not a prescription for deadly drugs.

Canada’s definition of who qualifies for assisted suicide is dangerously broad. Patients can be approved for euthanasia based on cancer, organ failure, or neurological conditions. But they can also be killed for diabetes, chronic pain, hearing problems, or even “feelings of loneliness.”

The situation is about to get worse. In 2027, Canada plans to expand assisted suicide to include people suffering solely from mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. One advocacy group is even pushing to make children under 18 eligible for euthanasia.

This is exactly the slippery slope that pro-life advocates have warned about for years.

We have seen similar problems in Oregon, which legalized physician-assisted suicide in 1998. Official state reports show that less than 1% of Oregon patients who received lethal prescriptions last year were referred for psychiatric evaluation. Most patients cited loss of autonomy and dignity as their primary reasons for asking about assisted suicide.

In parts of the U.S. where assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care but offered to cover the cost of suicide drugs instead. This robs patients of compassionate care and pushes them toward death.

And we have heard stories about patients in Europe and Canada being denied care or actively euthanized thanks to bad government policies.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death. That’s why Family Council has spent years opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia in Arkansas.

The tragedy unfolding in Canada shows us where this path leads. When society accepts the premise that some lives are not worth living, vulnerable people suffer the consequences. Instead of offering death as a solution, we should focus on providing better palliative care, mental health support, and compassionate assistance to those who are struggling.

Arkansas families, churches, and voters must continue to stand for the sanctity of human life and oppose any efforts to legalize assisted suicide in our state.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Illinois, New York Policymakers Support Flawed Assisted-Suicide Measures

Dec 22, 2025Jerry CoxEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life, Suicide

On December 12, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation letting healthcare providers help terminally ill patients end their lives. The measure makes Illinois the latest state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.

The measure passed the Illinois Senate by just one vote during the fall legislative session after narrowly clearing the House earlier this year. Illinois now joins states like Oregon, California, and Washington in allowing what supporters call “medical aid in dying.”

In a statement, Pritzker said the law “enables patients faced with debilitating terminal illnesses to make a decision, in consultation with a doctor, that helps them avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives.”

A few days later, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she had reached a deal with state legislators to legalize assisted suicide.

In a statement, Hochul said, “I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be. This includes permitting a merciful option to those facing the unimaginable and searching for comfort in their final months in this life.”

However, experience in other states shows assisted-suicide laws don’t help people who are sick and dying.

Oregon first allowed physician-assisted suicide in 1998, and official state reports have shown for years that the reasons people give most often for wanting to end their lives are loss of autonomy, decreasing ability to participate in activities that make life enjoyable, and loss of dignity.

Most patients do not express concerns about pain.

In Oregon, terminally ill patients routinely receive lethal prescriptions without being referred for psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

Last year, less than 1% of patients who received a prescription for physician-assisted suicide in Oregon were referred for a psychiatric evaluation. That’s a serious problem.

Many of these patients are lonely and feel like they are losing control over their lives because of their illness. They need counseling and support — not a prescription for deadly drugs.

In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.

And we have heard stories about patients in Europe and Canada being denied care or actively euthanized thanks to bad government policies.

That’s why Family Council has worked hard to block assisted suicide legislation in Arkansas.

In 2019 and 2021, Arkansas lawmakers wisely rejected very bad end-of-life laws that were flawed and fundamentally disrespected the right to life. Family Council worked closely with our friends in the legislature to stop these proposals.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

Guest Column: Are There No Suicide Pods? Are There No Gas Chambers?

Dec 18, 2025John StonestreetLifeAssisted Suicide, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life, Suicide

In a striking scene in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge asks two men raising money for the poor, “Are there no prisons? … And the Union workhouses? … Are they still in operation?” When the charity supporters reply that many would rather die than go to such places, Scrooge replied, “If they would rather die … they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” Later in the story, Scrooge is reminded of his dehumanizing words and is ashamed.

Recently, in real life Britain, Lord Falconer of Thoroton suggested to the British House of Lords that the poor might be better off dead:

Where the reason that you want an assisted death is because in your mind you are influenced by your circumstances, for example, because you are poor—should you be barred from having an assisted death because of your poverty? In my view not.

In Britain’s nationalized healthcare system, the cost of the procedure for the poor is not an issue. Rather, Lord Falconer seems to be suggesting that the poor should have the “right to die” if they are ashamed of being poor. Poverty, in this view, is a fate worse than death.

Most likely, Lord Falconer thinks his is an appeal to charity, like the charity workers in A Christmas Carol. In reality, his advice is indistinguishable from Scrooge. He might as well have asked, “Are there no euthanasia clinics? And, the gas chambers, are they still in operation? If they would rather die than be poor, then they had better do it.”

Now, Lord Falconer is not suggesting, at least not yet, that the state should round up the poor for suicide pods, though suicide pods are a real thing. However, he is suggesting that “being poor” should be added to the ever-growing list of things that make life not worth living. A few years ago, when advocates argued for death in Canada and Colorado, they argued that this was the compassionate choice for those with terminal, painful diseases and would die shortly. Why prolong their suffering?

But there is no slope more slippery than this one. In both Canada and Colorado, what gets someone approved for the death list has grown. In Colorado, severe eating disorders qualify. In The Netherlands, an early adopter nation of assisted death, euthanasia has been extended to sick children. In 2022, a Belgian woman who survived a terrorist attack was put to death to save her from stress. Ironically, the terrorists were not killed for their crimes.

In Canada, “medical assistance in dying,” or MAiD, is now the fifth leading cause of death. In 2016, the Canadian government insisted that only those facing “imminent death” would be eligible. By 2023, this grew to include patients struggling with mental illness and drug addiction. Last year, a Canadian man complained that his PTSD would not qualify him to take advantage of death. In another case a few weeks later, a young woman was granted the right to die for autism. The judge ruled that not providing MAiD in her case would cause “irreparable harm,” as if death for some is less harmful than living.

What other trials of life will be deemed suffering? A bad break-up? Not getting a wanted job? Just because? We once condemned the Nazis for whom and why they killed. Now, we’ve adopted their rhetoric.

Every person is made in the image of God and has infinite dignity and worth. Not just the healthy, and not just the wealthy. Human value isn’t lessened by pain, disease or, Lord Falconer, poverty.

The Church’s task in this moment is clear. We affirm life. We defend the vulnerable. We reject utilitarian thinking about human value. As Stanley Hauerwas said, “In a hundred years, if Christians are people identified as those who do not kill their children or their elderly, we will have been doing something right.”