Tag: Assisted Suicide

Assisted Suicide’s Slippery Slope to Broader Killing

Last month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced a deal to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients.

The so-called “Medical Aid in Dying Act” is supposed to make it possible for patients expected to die within six months to request a prescription for lethal drugs.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a similar assisted suicide law in December as well.

History shows us that assisted suicide laws never stay limited. Countries like Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands have allowed assisted suicide and euthanasia for mental illness, depression, and dementia.

What starts as a “compassionate choice” becomes routine killing. Once society accepts that some lives aren’t worth living, the definition of “suffering” keeps expanding.

Arkansas families should watch New York and Illinois carefully. When lawmakers claim assisted suicide will stay limited to extreme cases, remember that every other state and country has seen these laws grow broader over time.

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

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Researchers Say People With Eating Disorders are Dying from Assisted Suicide

A recent column in The Wall Street Journal highlights how people with eating disorders are dying from assisted suicide in states and countries where the practice is legal.

Alexander Raikin with the Ethics and Public Policy Center writes:

We have Oregon’s 2021 annual report on assisted suicide and correspondence with Colorado’s Vital Statistics Program, published in a 2024 peer-reviewed article by Chelsea Roff, which confirm that anorexia has been reported as the primary qualifying illness for assisted suicide. We also have a case study by Jennifer Gaudiani—an eating-disorder specialist and assisted suicide clinician in Colorado—on two of her patients with eating disorders who were prescribed assisted suicide.

The 2024 peer-reviewed article he cited found, “Assisted dying for reasons solely related to an eating disorder (ED) has occurred in multiple countries, including those which restrict the practice to individuals with a terminal condition.”

Researchers also identified at least 60 patients with eating disorders who underwent assisted suicide between 2012 and 2024. Although these people were supposed to have illnesses that were terminal, incurable, or untreatable, researchers said gaps in the data on assisted suicide raised “substantial concerns about oversight and public safety” and that in many cases the reasons for justifying assisted suicide were invalid.

Experience has shown that assisted suicide doesn’t help people who are sick and dying.

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.

Patients in Europe and Canada reportedly have been denied care or actively euthanized as a result of assisted suicide laws.

Stories like these are part of the reason why Family Council has strongly opposed assisted suicide legislation in Arkansas.

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

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide violate the sanctity of innocent human life.

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

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Canadian Woman Seeks Assisted Suicide After Years Without Medical Care

News outlets report a Canadian woman is seeking assisted suicide after being unable to receive the medical treatment she desperately needs for eight years.

Jolene Van Alstine from Saskatchewan was diagnosed with a rare condition called normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism that causes severe bone pain, nausea, and vomiting. Despite undergoing three surgeries, she still needs specialized care to locate and remove an overactive parathyroid gland. However, no surgeon is available in her province to perform the procedure, and she cannot get a referral to see specialists outside Saskatchewan.

After going without proper treatment for so long, Van Alstine applied for Canada’s so-called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program.

Experience has shown that assisted-suicide doesn’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 psychiatric evaluation.

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.

Stories like these are part of the reason 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.

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

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

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

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