When her grandmother chose euthanasia, it impacted her in ways she couldn't imagine.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The latest short film from Dying to Meet You features Lovanie, a young woman who has been greatly impacted by her grandmother's death by euthanasia.

Lovanie lost her grandmother to euthanasia. Her story is similar to many of the stories that we receive. Watch and share Lovanie's story (Link).

Lovanie explains that her grandmothers death was really hard on her as she has also struggled with mental health in the past few years.

Lovanie fears that her grandmothers euthanasia death will encourage other family members to also die by euthanasia in the future.

Lovanie expresses that her grandmothers dignity would have been achieved by staying with her family and to realize how much her family loved and cared for her willingly, and not as a burden.

Lovanie asks, how do you explain to your kids?

Lovanie expresses that you can't remain strong all of the time. You need help for that. We need people around us. You need to learn to help others and be helped.

Lovanie explains that the euthanasia decision is significant because it ends everything. There is no, I made a bad mistake but I can keep living. Euthanasia robs us of hope and strength. Death does not need to be sudden or chemically induced.

The lesson for Lovanie is that there is always another road, there is always another way. Her grandmothers death is a puzzle for Lovanie who said: I don't think I will ever figure it out in this life.

Watch and share Lovanie's story (Link).

Swiss Assisted Suicide Clinic Founder Died By Assisted Suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Minelli outside Dignitas

Emily Crane reported for the New York Post that Ludwig Minelli, the founder of the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland died by assisted suicide on November 29, 2025.

Minelli (93), was first a journalist and then a "human rights lawyer." Minelli had originally been an advisor to the Exit assisted suicide group but left Exit and founded Dignitas in 1998 because he wanted to be more strident.

Crane reported that:

Dignitas, which says it has strict guidelines for accepting candidates, has helped roughly 4,000 people in Switzerland and across the world end their lives, according to the group.

Lake Zurich urns.

Minelli was controversial for many reasons. Wikipedia reported that:

In a 2010 interview with The Atlantic magazine, Minelli admitted to depositing cremation urns containing the ashes of Dignitas members at Lake Zurich. A 2018 court case against Minelli focused on the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman who had bequeathed Dignitas 100,000 Swiss francs in her will. The organization had found the woman a fourth doctor who would prescribe drugs for assisted suicide after three doctors previously declined her request and the case accused him of profiteering from his clients.

Soraya Wernli

Soraya Wernli, a former employee of Dignitas, was featured in a Daily Mail article in February 2009 accusing Minelli of being obsessed with profit and not with dignity. Wernli claimed, in the Daily Mail article that:

‘just a few days into the job, he (Minelli) asked me to sort through the stuff in these plastic bin liners clogging the stairs.’ Minelli told her to ‘empty the sacks onto a long table ... and sort through everything.

In the sacks Wernli found - Mobile phones, handbags, ladies’ tights, shoes, spectacles, money, purses, wallets, jewels, and more.

Minelli had his “patients” sign forms saying the possessions were now the property of Dignitas. He then sold everything to pawn shops and second-hand shops.

Wernli, who was a nurse and a former care worker for elderly people worked for the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Zurich for 2½ years. During that time she came to believe that Dignitas was less about ethical euthanasia for the terminally ill and more of a money-making machine for Minelli.

The interview in The Atlantic Magazine in February 2010 also featured Soraya Wernli, who accused Minelli of ethical and financial improprieties and a lack of concern for vulnerable people.

More Lake Zurich urns

Minelli confirmed in The Atlantic interview that we was dumping the remains of people who died by assisted suicide in Lake Zurich. The article stated:

Minelli said he stores the urns until he has enough of them to load into his car. He then drives, usually at night, to a quiet spot on Lake Zurich, and tosses the remains into the water. Minelli insists that these burials are harmless but last year he was warned by Zurich’s water authority after they received complaints of human bone fragments washing up on shore.

BBC reporter, Imogen Foulkes published an investigative report on July 2, 2010 into Minelli and Dignitas. Foulkes reported:

Urns in Lake Zurich

The discovery of dozens of urns containing human ashes in Lake Zurich has served to focus attention once again on just what exactly assisted suicide groups are allowed to do.

It remains unclear who put the urns into the lake but there have been claims that Dignitas may have been involved: all the urns bore the label of the crematorium used by the organisation.

One German woman has come forward to say her stepmother's ashes were put in the lake by Dignitas, despite her wish to be buried next to her husband.

Foulkes commented on the Dignitas finances:

Dignitas has helped more than 1,000 people die in the past 12 years, (July 2010 report) many of them foreigners who come to Switzerland precisely because their own countries do not permit assisted suicide, Mr Minelli explained.

Each individual pays an initial membership fee, typically around $200 (£133), followed by annual membership fees of $80 (£53). Further fees for the consultation and the assisted suicide itself run to around $7,000 (£4,700).

When further asked about finances Mr Minelli refused to discuss the organisation's finances. Minelli stated:

"This is a private organisation," he explained. "Only the active members have a right to know the facts, and the public has no right at all. We are not working with public money, so there is no reason for us to answer questions."

Pietro D'Amico

In June 2013 I published an article about Pietro D’Amico, a 62-year-old magistrate from Calabria in Southern Italy, in who died by assisted suicide in April, 2013 after D'Amico received a wrong diagnosis. An article published in Switzerland's The Local, stated:

The father-of-one took the decision after a wrong diagnosis from Italian and Swiss doctors, his family's lawyer Michele Roccisano told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

An autopsy carried out by the University of Basel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine found that D’Amico was not suffering from a life-threatening illness at the time of his death.

Roccisano has called on the Italian and Swiss authorities to examine D’Amico’s medical records to determine what went wrong.

In July 2013, a Swiss regional court found Dr. Philippe Freiburghaus “crossed the line” by assisting a suicide without obtaining a diagnosis.

On April 23, 2014, Dr Freiburghaus was acquitted for assisting a suicide without a diagnosis. The reasons for the acquittal were not made public.

Oriella Cazzanello

In February, 2014 the Daily Mail reported on Oriella Cazzanello, 85, who travelled to the assisted suicide clinic in Basel, Switzerland, where she paid €10,000 for an assisted suicide because she was unhappy about losing her looks. The article stated:

Cazzanello, who was in good mental and physical health, left her home in Arzignano, near Vicenza in northern Italy, without telling her relatives where she was going.

Her family, who had reported her to the police as missing, only learned of her death after they received her ashes and death certificate from the clinic.

Coffin leaving Dignitas

In 2017 Swissinfo.ch reported that the Swiss high court upheld the requirement that Dignitas must dispose all remains in cemeteries. Swissinfo.ch reported:

The grisly find in 2010 prompted the local authorities to draft new regulations five years later that outlawed the professional disposal of human remains in the canton. Dignitas fought the order, arguing that it represented an unfair restriction of trade. But both the Administrative Court and now the Supreme Court have sided with the canton.

The discovery of 67 urns in Lake Zurich, near to a Dignitas clinic, made international headlines seven years ago. The human remains were found by divers from the lake rescue service who were looking for a missing sunshade. 

A former Dignitas employee told the media that it was common to dump urns in the lake and estimated there to be around 300 in the watery grave. Dignitas denied the claims and Zurich prosecutors dropped a criminal probe after being unable to prove who had put the urns in the lake.

In May 2018 Minelli was charged with profiteering. 

Dignitas

There have been many controversial stories and deaths related to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic. Dignitas claims to have assisted the suicides of more than 4000 people with the majority being "suicide tourists."

I will remembered Minelli as a serial killer, who primarily killed people with disabilities. Minelli took money from people with a death wish and killed them. He wasn't concerned about compassion, he was concerned with profit and killing.

Health Canada 2024 report indicates that 16,499 people died by euthanasia.

Euthanasia deaths increased by almost 7% representing 5.1% of all deaths.
Euthanasia deaths for people who are not terminally ill increased by 17%.

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Health Canada finally released their Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada on November 28, 2025. As slow as Health Canada was to release the report, last year's report was released on December 11, 2024.

For the purpose of this article I will refer to it as the 2024 report.

The 2024 report indicates that there were 16,499 reported (MAiD) euthanasia deaths which was up by 6.9% from 15,427 in 2023.

From legalization until December 31, 2024 there were 76,475 MAiD deaths in Canada. Considering that it is now at the end of November 2025, it is likely that there have been at least 92,000 MAiD (euthanasia) deaths in Canada since legalization.

The 2023 report indicated that there were 15,343 euthanasia deaths. The 2024 report stated that there were 15,427 euthanasia deaths in 2023, an increase of 84 deaths. Since the 2023 report was published in December, 2024, it is hard to understand a difference of 84 deaths.

On February 18, 2025, I predicted, based on the Ontario, Québec and Alberta euthanasia data, that there were likely 16,500 euthanasia deaths in 2024. My February, 2025 estimate was out by 1 death.

Quebec has the highest number of euthanasia deaths.

The 2024 report indicated that Québec had the highest number of euthanasia deaths.

According to the 2024 report: Quebec had 5,998 deaths, Ontario had 4,944, British Columbia had 2,997 deaths, Alberta had 1,117 deaths, Nova Scotia had 445 deaths, Saskatchewan had 341 deaths, New Brunswick had 283 deaths, Manitoba had 186 deaths, Newfoundland had 108 deaths, PEI had 57 deaths and the Yukon Territory had 14 deaths.

It is interesting that the Quebec government reported that there were 6058 euthanasia deaths in 2024 and the BC government reported that there were 3000. I wonder why there is a discrepancy between the provincial and federal data?

The increase in Track 2 euthanasia deaths is very concerning. 

The total number of 2024 Canadian euthanasia deaths increased by 6.9%, while the total number of Track 2 euthanasia deaths increased by 17% representing 4.4% of all euthanasia deaths.

Track 2 refers to euthanasia deaths of people who do not have a terminal condition. To qualify for a Track 2 death, the person would need to have, among other qualifications, "a grievous and irremediable medical condition" which is not defined in the law.

According to the 2024 report there were 224 Track 2 deaths in 2021, 469 Track 2 deaths in 2022, 625 Track 2 deaths in 2023 and 732 in 2024.

It is important to note that people who die by euthanasia based on a Track 2 approval tend to be younger, are more likely to be women, and far more likely to be living with a disability.

Reasons for euthanasia.

It is assumed that pain and suffering is the primary reason why people seek to be killed by euthanasia. The 2024 report indicates that inadequate pain control or concern about it was the sixth most common reason for seeking to be killed.

According to the 2024 report:

• Loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities: Track 1 - 95.1%, Track 2 - 97.5;
• Loss of ability to perform to perform activities of daily living: Track 1 - 85.4%, Track 2 - 85.1%;
• Loss of Independence: Track 1 - 75.4%, Track 2 - 78.7%;
• Loss of Dignity: Track 1 - 63.5%, Track 2 - 73.9%;
• Emotional distress, anxiety, fear, existential suffering: Track 1 - 57.9%, Track 2 - 63.3%

Euthanasia and Disability

The 2024 report shows a clear connection between disability and death by euthanasia. In 2024, 31.6% (4858) of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths was a person with a disability and 61.5% (437) of the Track 2 euthanasia deaths was a person with a disability.

I believe that euthanasia based on disability is under-reported. Many people seek a euthanasia death based on disability related conditions but the person does not consider themselves to have a disability. When considering the 5 main reasons for someone seeking euthanasia, they are all related, in some way, to disability.

The Quebec data provides further evidence that euthanasia based on disability is under-reported. The 2024 report states that in Quebec only 12% of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths and 49.6% of the Track 2 euthanasia deaths were people with disabilities. Clearly there is a preference in Quebec to not claim that the person who dies by euthanasia is disabled.

People with disabilities should be very concerned about Track 2 euthanasia deaths. 61.5% of Track 2 euthanasia deaths (people who are not terminally ill) self-identified as being disabled.

People with disabilities were more likely to be younger with mobility issues being listed as the primary concern. It is not stated, but clear that Track 2 euthanasia deaths are primarily oriented to people with disabilities.

People with disabilities were also far more likely to have the reason for their death listed as "other." I have stated, several times, my concern with the "other category." People with disabilities who die under Track 1 are 46.1% of the time categorized as "other" and Track 2 are 56.1% categorized as "other."

The 2024 report states that: Examples of "other" conditions include organ failure, diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain and mental disorders.

It should also not surprise anyone that people who die by Track 2 euthanasia are more likely to be poor, live in a poor neighbourhood or institution and receive disability support services than people who die by Track 1 euthanasia.

Euthanasia and Loneliness.

The 2024 report attempts to explain away the issues of loneliness and isolation but according to the 2024 report, loneliness and isolation was related to 21.9% of Track 1 euthanasia deaths and 44.7% of Track 2 euthanasia deaths. Based on the 2024 report there were at least 3,800 people who listed loneliness and isolation as a primary reason for being killed.

As in previous years I believe that there were more than 3,800 people who wanted to be killed based on loneliness and isolation. People will state that their primary reason is related to their medical condition, but loneliness, isolation and mental health related conditions are often driving them to seek death while their medical condition is why they were approved to be killed.

It is also significant that 31.4% of those who died by Track 2 euthanasia were receiving mental health, social support professional services as compared to 9.4% of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths.

Considering the issue of euthanasia based on mental health, the data clearly indicates that mental health is a primary reason for euthanasia and very prevalent with relation to Track 2 deaths. This is not surprising since Track 2 deaths are people who are not terminally ill.

Currently the law would require that euthanasia based on mental illness would require the person to have another medical condition.

The Canadian parliament are currently debating Private Members Bill C-218, a bill that would reverse prevent the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness in Canada. We urge our supporters to do all that they can to support Bill C-218 (Article Link).

Over the next few weeks we will provide further analysis of the 2024 report.

Game of Thrones actress opposes assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sophia Turner

People Magazine, which has continuously promoted the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, offered neutrality in the resent article by Vanessa Etienne that was published on November 27.

Etienne reported that Sophie Turner, the 29-year-old Game of Thrones alum signed an open letter to the U.K. House of Lords opposing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow adults in the U.K. to be killed by their doctor upon request.

The Open Letter which was published on November 18 by the Eat Breathe Thrive Foundation an organization that changes the lives of people who struggle with eating disorders.

The Open Letter that was signed by Sophie Turner and many more states:

November 18, 2025

Dear Members of the House of Lords,

We are writing to express deep concern about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the serious risk it poses to people with eating disorders.

If passed, this bill could make individuals with eating disorders eligible for assisted death at times when they are unable to access or accept treatment. Many young people who could recover with effective care might instead receive lethal medication during a period of despair.

In jurisdictions where assisted death is legal, women with eating disorders have already died under laws intended only for those who are terminally ill. One such woman was Jessica, a thirty-six-year-old from Colorado who lived with anorexia and depression. When she was unable to increase her nutritional intake, her doctor concluded that her illness was irreversible and incurable, and prescribed medication to end her life. Jessica died after taking the drugs. According to her family, she repeatedly said she did not want to die but could not continue living as she was.

These were not individuals who were inevitably dying, but individuals whose illnesses had become life-threatening in the absence of effective treatment. The bill’s definition of “terminally ill,” like that used in Colorado, could be interpreted to include people with eating disorders who develop severe physical complications from starvation, purging, or restricting insulin. In a health system already stretched beyond capacity, someone who is severely ill and ambivalent about treatment could be assessed as eligible for assisted death.

Some have argued that people with eating disorders would not be eligible because they lack capacity. This reflects a misunderstanding of capacity and the nature of these illnesses. People with eating disorders are often coherent and capable of making decisions unrelated to nutrition, even when seriously ill. Evidence from other countries shows that in sixty documented cases where people with eating disorders died by assisted death, doctors found they had capacity to make that decision.

Amendments may lessen the risk for people with eating disorders but cannot remove it entirely. The deeper problem lies within the healthcare system itself. Decades of underinvestment, limited research, and poor coordination have left services overstretched and fragmented. Families are waiting months, sometimes years, for treatment while the illness progresses to more severe, complex, and life-threatening stages.

The Eating Disorders APPG’s most recent report has called for a confidential inquiry into eating disorder deaths to identify and address failings that contribute to preventable deaths. That recommendation remains unfulfilled.

No eating disorder expert was invited to give evidence to the Select Committee, despite repeated warnings from charities, campaigners, families, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists that the bill, as drafted, places this group at risk.

We urge you to pause and ensure that legislation intended to bring compassion to those facing terminal illness does not end the lives of those who could still recover.

Previous articles on Eating Disorders:

• As an Anorexic I would have longed for an assisted death (Link).
• Landmark study: Assisted death for eating disorders (Link).
• At least 60 people with eating disorders euthanized or assisted in suicide since 2012 (Link).
• ANAD clarifies that Anorexia Nervosa is not a terminal condition (Link)
• When I was Anorexic I would have chosen assisted suicide (Link).
• Psychiatrist: Anorexia does not justify Aid in Dying (Link).
• Anorexia is not a terminal condition (Link).

Netherlands euthanasia bill would eliminate existing legal restrictions.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Dutchnews.NL reported that Wim van Dijk, a retired psychologist who founded Stichting Levenseinderegie (Ending Life Management Foundation), who was convicted last year of breaking the Medicines Act for supplying an anti-nausea drug to dozens of people as an “essential part” of a suicide kit, has collected 75,000 signatures demanding that parliament fully decriminalizing euthanasia.

Euthanasia is the act where a medical professional lethally injects a person, usually upon request, with a poison cocktail.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide were legalized in the Netherlands in 2002. Stichting Levenseinderegie want to eliminate legal restrictions that exist within the Netherlands law. Dutchnews.NL reported:

Campaign group Stichting Levenseinderegie wants the decision to be taken out of the hands of doctors and entrusted with specialist “end of life support workers”, with patients having the final say.

Wim van Dijk

The Dutchnew.NL article stated that the D66 political party plans on introducing the euthanasia legislation early next year. The article explained what changes van Dijk is seeking.

van Dijk has argued the current law required doctors to make subjective judgments about a patient’s level of suffering that they could not reliably gauge, leading to inconsistencies.

Doctors can also refuse to grant euthanasia requests on grounds of conscience.

I reported in March 2025 that there were almost 10,000 euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2024 representing more than 5% of all deaths. Euthanasia deaths have been steadily increasing and the oversight of the law has been steadily decreasing. A concerning trend in the Netherlands is the increase in euthanasia deaths based on psychological suffering and the increase in the number of younger people who are dying by euthanasia.

In October 2021 Wim van Dijk, who is also a member of the assisted suicide lobby group, Coöperatie Laatste Wil (Final Wish Cooperative), admitted in an interview that he was involved with more than 100 suicide deaths. van Dijk admitted that his actions were against the law but he said that he didn't care. As stated at the beginning of the article, he was convicted last year of breaking the Medicine's Act.

“Proposed Changes To The USA Special Education System Reflect the Same Pattern of Apathy As Assisted Suicide.”

Meghan Schrader

By Meghan Schrader
Meghan is an instructor at E4 - University of Texas (Austin) and is a member of the EPC-USA board.

I’m again commenting on some of the disability policy amendments that have been attempted or implemented by this administration, especially the changes to the special education system that have been made or are likely to be implemented soon. 

This is a blog about assisted suicide, but as I’ve written, assisted suicide intersects with other disability rights issues. I think that helping disabled people die by suicide is tolerated because society tolerates degradation of disabled people in all other spheres of life.

Based on my personal experiences and advocacy background, I currently feel certain that the disability policy changes being implemented by this administration are squarely in line with that unethical, unjust pattern.

For instance, although this administration recently stopped using Special Education students as government shutdown “hostages” and reversed the layoffs of most of the Department of Education’s Special Education staff, this administration is planning to move Special Education to HHS. I guess many of the aforementioned staff members might move to HHS, but I doubt that that process will be conducted in a careful, efficient way.

Moreover, it is deeply frustrating to think of RFK Jr. having any oversight over Special Education, what with his rants about autism being caused by vaccines and Tylenol and his statement that people with autism, “will never pay taxes, they'll never hold a job, they'll never play baseball, they'll never write a poem, they'll never go out on a date," and "many of them will never use a toilet unassisted.” Although it is true that some people with autism have high support needs, Kennedy’s general attitude reinforces society’s pattern of low expectations for the inclusion of autistic people in education and everything else.

I’m a pragmatist. If moving Special Education to HHS somehow goes well, “great.” But, by “goes well” I mean direction by Special Education and educational policy staff at the top of their field, a maximum academic achievement standard for Special Education students, amazing transition services, robust opportunities for teacher training, etc. I don’t think that’s going to happen with an HHS chief ranting that autism is caused by Tylenol & vaccines, the federal government canceling Special Education grants, President Trump blaming disabled people for plane crashes & allegedly saying that disabled people should just die, etc.

These changes to the Special Education system are being led by people who lack even cursory knowledge of that system. For instance, in a recent interview, Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said of IDEA, the acronym for the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, “Well, do you know what? I’m not sure I can tell you exactly what it stands for, except that it’s the programs for disabled and needs [students].”

If you don’t know what the acronym IDEA stands for, then you should NOT be in charge of implementing it. It makes me angry that this administration is deferring to the opinions of someone who doesn’t know what “IDEA” stands for instead of to groups like The Council For Exceptional Children, The Learning Disabilities Association of America, multiple other disability rights groups, and a bipartisan group of former Department of Education directors.

The problem of Special Education students getting a substandard education is already very prevalent, which contributes to incarceration, poverty, mental health problems and suicide. (Again, this is something I know from personal experience; lack of accommodations for my learning disability is the primary social factor driving the mental illness that I have experienced.)

One could of course argue that the Department of Education has not prevented disabled students from being discriminated against, but I doubt that getting rid of it completely is going to decrease the ableism that such students experience. And this problem is directly relevant to assisted suicide opposition, because as we can see from Canada, lack of education and civil rights protections pushes disabled people towards situations where assisted suicide seems like the only option.

This administration’s approach to disability rights falls into a longstanding cultural pattern of apathy towards disabled people: this administration has an agenda of returning all education oversight to the states, come what may, and Special Education students are likely not a priority. In my opinion this behavior isn’t much different from the behavior of assisted suicide proponents who decide that the wrongful deaths of a few disabled people is worth it as long as they can die with champagne in their hands, except “at least” this administration’s policy changes don’t legalize killing disabled people outright.

There is no reason for any politician or administration to behave this way, other than to check off items on someone’s political grocery list.

Disabled people don’t exist to serve anyone’s political agenda. Not conservative agendas or liberal agendas, even if the agenda item is very important. We aren’t “toys” that people from different political “tribes” can use and break at will. I really wish that the ideologues having a tug of war over the direction of America would spare a thought for disabled people as they prance merrily towards whatever utopia they have in their minds.

Previous articles by Meghan Schrader (Articles Link).

How Slovenians won a referendum that rejected euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Slovenian people voted in a referendum on November 23, 2025 to overturn the euthanasia bill that was passed in the Slovenian legislature in July 2025.  More than 53% of the voters rejected the euthanasia law.

This was a great victory, that was accomplished by a small group of committed citizens who stuck to their talking points. They achieved this victory for people who are sick, people with disabilities and pensioners against all odds, as they were up against the government and a well funded death lobby.

Why did Slovenians reject the govenrment euthanasia law? 

Aleš Primc, the organizer of the referendum explains:

• Slovenian people decided that they are valued and respected.
• Patients, disabled people and pensioners need treatment, medication and pain relief, and the people rejecting poisoning, or forcing them to poison themselves.
• Doctors and healthcare personnel decided to respect medical ethics and the Hippocratic Oath, which stipulates that a doctor treats and does not kill, nor does he/she participate in poisoning people.

They were up against a massive well funded opposition. As Aleš stated:

The poisoning of patients, disabled people and pensioners was supported by all government parties and the largest media. However, most people in Slovenia nevertheless retained their common sense and made decisions in accordance with their conscience.

They were faced with constant lies. Aleš explained:

The poisoning lobby has been lying, deceiving and scaring people all the time. Our task was to expose these lies and prove this with references to the law. Then they twisted their words and wanted to change the subject.

Leaders also made telling statements. Aleš wrote:

The Prime Minister stated that "people who have living, immobile parents are unlucky". Former Minister of Health Keber, stated that a patient towards the end of life is not a person, but only organs.

As Aleš stated having an elderly or disabled relative is not unlucky and towards the end of life a person is not "only organs.|

The take-away from the Slovenina referndum is that people innately oppose killing, but we must be willing to state what euthanasia actually is. The Slovenian team built their campaign on a few key talking points and stuck to them. Hiding behind nice language or presenting the issue in a way that seems more socially acceptable avoids the reality that euthanasia and assisted suicide are about killing people. 

Slovenians rejected the killing of people.

More articles on Slovenia

• Great news: Slovenia rejected euthanasia law with more than 53% support for the referendum (Link).
• Slovenian interview with Alex Schadenberg and Theo Boer (Link). 
• Bad news in Slovenia and Uruguay (Link). 
• Has Slovenia legalized assisted suicide (Link). 
• Slovenia debates assisted suicide. Doctors and medical groups oppose the bill (Link).

Slovenia: The sick, the disabled and the pensioner won the referendum!

Alex Schadenberg\
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I reported on November 23 that Slovenia rejected the euthanasia law, that the government passed in July through a successful referendum that garnered more than 53% support.

Aleš Primc, the organizer of the referendum campaign sent the following message to their supporters, campaign team and to the media.

Let me be clear, the Slovenian people rejected poisoning their citizens to death. The referendum followed a tight message that focused on what euthanasia actually is. Here is the message from Aleš Primc:

Aleš Primc

Thank you Slovenia! The sick, the disabled and the retired won the referendum!

Thank God! We are witnessing a miracle! The culture of life has defeated the cult of death!

The result of the referendum showed that in Slovenia we respect the sick, the disabled and the retired. Compassion, justice and solidarity won the referendum. Slovenia decided for life and rejected the government's health, pension and social reform, which was based on death by poisoning.

I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart and thank you to everyone! Thank you to everyone who submitted a signature, thank you to everyone who collected signatures, thank you to everyone who put up posters and distributed leaflets. Thank you to everyone who posted on social media. Thank you to everyone who encouraged family and friends to participate and vote AGAINST. Thank you to everyone who took someone to the polling station. Thank you to everyone who voted AGAINST. There were more than 370,000 of us (53.46%). The final result is not yet known, but pensioners, patients and disabled people have achieved a magnificent victory, where the Slovenian people have told them that they are valued and respected. 

Yes, dear patients, disabled people and pensioners, you are not a burden, but you are precious!

Patients, disabled people and pensioners need treatment, medication and pain relief, not poisoning, forcing them to poison themselves and abuse. Thank you to everyone who made this victory possible. So that everyone, especially patients, disabled people and pensioners, can celebrate the upcoming Advent and Christmas holidays peacefully.

Thank you to the doctors and all healthcare personnel who respect medical ethics and the Hippocratic Oath, which stipulate that a doctor treats and does not kill, nor does he participate in poisoning people.

Thank you also to the parties SDS, NSI, SLS, Glas pokojencev, Zeleni and Demokrati, who opposed the Poisoning Act. Thank you to the Catholic Church, the Serbian and Macedonian Orthodox Churches, the Evangelical and Pentecostal Churches, and the Jewish community for their strong commitment to respecting God's commandment: You shall not kill. As a Christian, I am especially happy that the Catholic Church has committed itself to respecting God's commandments: You shall not kill! and Honor your father and mother, that you may live long and it may go well with you on earth, and to Jesus' commandment to Love your neighbor. Love and compassion do not poison, but help. God's commandments are the foundation of faith and the foundation of peaceful and solidary coexistence between people.

Thank you to all civil society organizations and professional associations that have publicly stated that they oppose the law that introduces the poisoning of patients.

Thank you to the wonderful coordination team of dedicated and kind-hearted people, where everyone did their job. There was really a lot of work, which we did well.

The fight was difficult. The poisoning of patients, disabled people and pensioners was supported by all government parties and the largest media. Pupils and students were indoctrinated in high schools and faculties. However, most people in Slovenia nevertheless retained their common sense and made decisions in accordance with their conscience.

The poisoning lobby has been lying, deceiving and scaring people all the time. Our task was to expose these lies and prove this with references to the law. Then they twisted their words and wanted to change the subject. The liar was already their symbol. As you know, they had a heart. The heart is a sign of life, not the poisoning that they propagated. In confrontations, representatives of the poisoning lobby were aggressive and uncultured. It is difficult to debate with such people, so we had to adapt to this. Sometimes it was quite harsh, but it always turned out that the poisoning lobby has no arguments, but is driven only by an ideological thirst for poisoning and scaring people.

The poisoning lobby is furious because the patients, the disabled and the pensioners won the referendum and not them. I understand that defeat hurts, but I don't understand why they are now threatening everyone. This shouting and threats that the poisoning lobby is now making in the major media is their process of healing the wounds after defeat. Instead of coming to terms with the fact that people do not want the patients, the disabled and the pensioners to be poisoned and that they should live in constant fear of poisoning, they continue to threaten the whole of Slovenia with poison. 

I find it corrupt that Prime Minister Golob, after the people have said that they do not want poison as a health service, continues to threaten with poison and scare people. And this is a man, a Prime Minister, who stated that "people who have living, immobile parents are unlucky". Or former Minister of Health Keber, who claims that a patient towards the end of life is not a person, but only organs. You've heard: not a person, only organs. With these statements, the poisoning lobby has completely exposed itself and we have all seen what they are really about. To poison as many people as possible and to make money at the expense of health services, pensions, medicines and social services that would not have to be paid to people who would die from poisoning.

Once again, thank you all for stopping the poisoning lobby and saving the sick, disabled and pensioners from the danger of poisoning, pressure and abuse.

Best regards!

Aleš Primc

More articles on Slovenia

• Great news: Slovenia rejected euthanasia law with more than 53% support for the referendum (Link).
• Slovenian interview with Alex Schadenberg and Theo Boer (Link). 
• Bad news in Slovenia and Uruguay (Link). 
• Has Slovenia legalized assisted suicide (Link). 
• Slovenia debates assisted suicide. Doctors and medical groups oppose the bill (Link).

Great news: Slovenia rejects euthanasia law by passing referendum (53% to 47%).

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have incredible news to share.

The Slovenian referendum campaign to prevent the implementation of the Slovenian euthanasia law won by a vote of 53 to 47.  Lives will be saved and people will be protected from being poisoned to death in Slovenia.

Slovenia passed a euthanasia law in July. In response a citizens group organized a signature campaign and collected 46,000 signatures enabling them to challenge the euthanasia law through a referendum.

The 53% to 47% victory overturns the euthanasia law and once again protects Slovenians from being killed by poison. Bojan Kavcic reported for the Citizen Tribune that:

Ales Primc, the head of Voice for the Children and the Family, the NGO that organised the no vote campaign, reacted to the results saying "solidarity and justice" had won.

"Slovenia rejected the government's health, pension and social reforms based on death and poisoning," Primc was cited as saying by the Slovenian news agency STA.

The referendum required at least 20% of the 1.7 million eligible voters to support the referendum. Kavcic reported that the voter turnout was 40.9% meaning that the referendum validly rejected the Slovenian euthanasia law.

The euthanasia lobby has promised to bring forth another legalization bill but the referendum result means that the government cannot introduce another euthanasia bill for at least 12 months.

 

The campaign followed a straight forward set of talking points and didn't get into any other issues.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition congratulates everyone who successfully worked on the referendum campaign and we are thankful that we had the opportunity to be intimately involved by sharing articles, interviews and video footage with the campaign.

Slovenia showed us how an organized and focused campaign can be successful even when facing a massive campaign with incredible funding from pro-euthanasia groups.

Alex Schadenberg

In January 2024 I had the opportunity to speak in Slovenia and counter the pro-euthanasia rhetoric that they were facing. At that time I met with politicians, several media outlets, including television news interview shows and spoke to a large audience in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital to oppose the Slovenian euthanasia bill, which was very similar to Canada's euthanasia law.

Thank you Ales, Nuno and the campaign team who enabled us to help make a difference and prevent a law giving Slovenian doctors the right to poison their citizens to death. You have shown us the way.

More articles on Slovenia

• Slovenian interview with Alex Schadenberg and Theo Boer (Link). 
• Bad news in Slovenia and Uruguay (Link). 
• Has Slovenia legalized assisted suicide (Link). 
• Slovenia debates assisted suicide. Doctors and medical groups oppose the bill (Link).

RCMP Veterans’ Association IS TARGETING RCMP VETERANS for MAiD.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Kelsi Sheren published a shocking substack article outlining an RCMP veterans scandal that she published on November 20, 2025.

The RCMP Veterans' Association Nova Scotia Division are promoting an upcoming (MAiD) euthanasia promoting seminar that is being specifically promoted for RCMP veterans. 

Are the RCMP trying to save money by pressuring veterans to die quicker?

Kelsi Sheren

Kelsi writes:

I just received an email from a retired member of the RCMP…

“I served for 32 years on the West Coast and retired in 2019. As a Christian and a retired member of the RCMP I wanted to share this with you. I’m trying to wrap my head around this shocking email. I’m shocked it’s come to this.” - L.K

Sheren also posts the letter from the RCMP Veterans' Association Nova Scotia Division promoting the euthanasia event that features Dr Gordon Gubitz, who is a member of the CAMAP (Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers) board of directors.

Gubitz was quoted in an article that was published in the Atlantic in August 2025 as stating:

He finds euthanasia to be “energizing”—the “most meaningful work” of his career. “It’s a happy sad, right?” he explained. “It’s really sad that you were in so much pain. It is sad that your family is racked with grief. But we’re so happy you got what you wanted.”

Canada has had military veterans who were coerced towards (MAiD) euthanasia while contacting Veterans Affairs for help.

First there was a Veterans Affairs Canada worker advocating euthanasia for a veteran with PTSD (Link). Then we learned that more than one veteran was offered euthanasia by Veterans Affairs (Link). Then we learned that Veterans Affairs offered euthanasia to a disabled veteran and paralympian (Link). It is likely that there were at least 20 veterans who were offered euthanasia (Link).

Now the RCMP is promoting (MAiD) euthanasia for RCMP Veterans.

Kelsi reports receiving the following message from a whistle-blower. She wrote:

On November 20th, an email quietly dropped into the inboxes of Nova Scotia RCMP veterans. Standard, polite and in true Canadian fashion formal and sanitized. This was no mistake, this wasn’t information. This was something different.

This is grooming. Yes I said it, coercion.

The “opportunity” was a “Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Program in Nova Scotia”

This is a state-aligned institutions normalizing death as a service to the very people they already failed to support in life .This was a information session, to “educate” veterans who’s rates of PTSD and suicidality were already sky hight. How they can apply or use MAID.

The invited speaker?

Dr. Gordon Gubitz

Kelsi then explains who Dr Gubitz is. She then states:

Nova Scotia RCMP veterans invited a man whose job is to facilitate, provide and promote nothing but death, and whose organization teaches clinicians how to introduce MAID (assisted SUICIDE) to patients who didn’t ask for it, bring it up or want it in their life.

Let me explain something, If you’re a veteran dealing with PTSD, chronic pain, TBI, disability, or bureaucracy-induced despair, this isn’t “education.”

This is targeted psychological pressure.

Coercion, CAMAP and Dying with Dignity’s claim to fame.

No one will say the words out loud. No one will write “we think some of you should consider dying.”

They don’t need to, when just dangling the carrot is good enough to get the job done.

Coercion today is subtle, normalized in the community. It’s dressed up like Christmas cookies in a church call, framed as loving “support” being held by one of the most prolific death pushers in the game.

Simply funnelling veterans into the system one “information session” at a time. Like cattle through the gates of hell, with CAMAP waiting in the shadows. This time not with a bold gun. They would see that as “too humane”, but with a pen, check list, a needle and a paralytic.

Canada already proved it’s willing to dangle MAID (assisted suicide, murder, early death) in front of struggling veterans. I helped break these stories and bring our veterans stories to the masses. I’m interviewing more by the day, who’ve been offered death over life illegally.

VAC employees got caught offering MAID to veterans who never asked for it, including one trying to get a wheelchair ramp, my friend Christine.

So do me a favour spare us the “this is innocent” act.

Veterans have been coerced before, and it’s happening again right in front of your faces. Now the RCMP Veterans’ Association is rolling out the red carpet for the prevailers of death. The dark ones who feed on the souls of those who couldn’t bare to take another breath.

This is not an “opportunity.”
This is a sales pitch.
And the product is your death.

People keep asking me why veterans are being targeting? Because they’re the perfect targets, don’t you see?

Veterans, on a daily basis are dealing with chronic pain, combat trauma, moral injury, sanctuary trauma, disability, suicidality, lack of services, financial strain, bureaucratic obstruction and the government doesn’t just know know it, it caused it and it supports it and so do the MAID, pro death cult architects.

The MAID lobby knows veterans are “high-yield” candidates, and not because they want to die, but because the system has already worn them down, like water slowly dripping over the rocks. The Liberal government just cut OVER 4 BILLION in care for veterans. Veterans aren’t being shown the full picture, they aren’t given any hope. They’re being shown the early exit. What we call in some circles, being shown the path to “self-selection.”

This RCMP veterans email is a soft-touch version of coercion if I’ve ever seen one.
“We’re not telling you to choose MAID… we’re just putting the idea on the table, in a friendly community space, with a trusted expert who helps design the national MAID system.” Who’s job is to provide you with all the pathways to wanting to kill yourself.

That’s how you manipulate a vulnerable population without leaving fingerprints.

Kelsi then writes further about Dr Gubitz and CAMAP, which is the death doctors training and support group. 

Kelsi continues:

When you pair a vulnerable group with a man trained to present MAID as “equitable access,” your “information session” becomes a recruitment funnel.

HOW IS EVERYONE OK WITH THIS?

You are directly influencing and priming veterans for death under the banner of “support.” It’s an illusion, it’s predatory behaviour! It’s not informed consent in any way. It’s manipulation.

And holding it in a church? That’s strategic psychological laundering.

Churches are trusted spaces. They lower defences, help you to open your mind. Churches to most signal moral legitimacy so hosting a MAID talk in a church hall tells veterans “your community approves. Your faith approves this is acceptable, this is dignified, you don’t have to fight or feel guilty, ”

It cloaks a controversial, ethically fraught practice in community warmth. It’s taking advantage of the safety and sanctity of church.

That’s not an accident.
It’s a tactic.

This wreaks of propaganda wrapped in hospitality.

This is the playbook of a system that wants to solve suffering by eliminating the sufferer.

Canada won’t fix the care gaps. It won’t fix the mental-health crisis. It won’t fix VAC’s failures and it sure as hell won’t fix disability supports.

But it will happily fund a national MAID curriculum, expand eligibility, remove guardrails, and now apparently send MAID providers on a tour of vulnerable communities.

Veterans have always been canaries in Canada’s moral coal mine.

If the state can normalize MAID to the people who wore its uniform, it can normalize it to anyone. And that’s the point.

This story isn’t about one email. It’s about a culture shift engineered from the top down.

This is how you create acceptance - - >

First, make MAID look compassionate.

Then, bring it into community spaces.

Then, present to vulnerable groups.

Then, call it “support.”

Then, remove the stigma.

Then, remove the safeguards.

Then, expand eligibility.

Then, tell the public: “People are choosing MAID because it’s dignified.”

They leave out the part where the system helped manufacture despair.

Veterans deserve better than an invitation to die.

They deserve care, treatment, advocacy, and someone who doesn’t treat their suffering as a problem to be erased.

Not a church basement with coffee and a state-aligned MAID architect explaining their “options.”

This email isn’t benign.

It is a warning, one Canada should have heeded years ago.

If the country is comfortable offering death to the people who served it, it’s comfortable offering it to anyone.

And that’s exactly what’s happening.

Please feel free to call or email them and let them know how this makes you feel.

Articles about Veterans Affairs offering MAiD to veterans:

• Veterans Affairs tried to cover-up the euthanasia scandal (Link).
• Canadian veteran who was urged to seek euthanasia was not the only one (Link). 
• Veterans affairs offers euthanasia to a disabled veteran and former paralympian (Link). 
• Canadian veteran: 20 veterans were offered euthanasia (Link).