Euthanasia activist, Sean Davison, arrested in London England concerning death of a 79-year-old woman

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sean Davison, past President of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies and former leader of Dignity South Africa, was arrested in London England in connection with the death of a 79-year-old woman whom he accompanied to Switzerland to die at the Pegasos suicide clinic. 

This is not the first time that Davison has been charged with assisting a suicide. Davison was convicted in the death of his mother in New Zealand in 2010 and he lost his New Zealand medical license in 2020. Davison was also convicted in South Africa and served three years (house arrest) in the deaths of Anrich Burger (2013), Justin Varian (2015), and Richard Holland (2015). All of these men were people with disabilities.

Medical Brief reported on July 31 that:

According to Netwerk24, Davison had accompanied a 79-year-old English woman to the Pegasos Clinic in Switzerland on 29 June. The DignitySA co-founder was arrested on 15 July and part of his bail conditions is that he may not talk to the media.

DignitySA co-founder Willem Landman said Davidson wanted to warn families that they may face prosecution if accompanying loved ones to Switzerland.

Davison’s bail conditions include a prohibition of working with DignitySA or some 80 other groups lobbying for legalised euthanasia.

Meanwhile, the British police have indicated they are also investigating “additional charges” against Davison.

DignitySA is concerned that he will be charged due to the widely publicised death of South African Carol de Swardt, whom he accompanied to Pegasos on 31 January this year for her voluntary assisted suicide.

Davison recently resigned from Exit International – an organisation that advocates people’s right to euthanasia – and was soon to take up his new position as head of Pegasos, said Landman.

Davison's work with the Pegasos Swiss suicide clinic recently became known by the family of Alastair Hamilton (47). Hamilton died at the Pegasos suicide clinic.

An ITV news report followed Judith Hamilton (82) to Switzerland to find out what happened to her son Alastair.

Paul Brand reported for ITV.com on May 16, 2024 that the Pegasos assisted suicide clinic, which assists the suicides of hundreds of people every year, assisted the suicide of Alastair Hamilton who had an undiagnosed condition. 

Brand's ITV news reported that at first Pegasos did not respond to the Hamilton family but after ITV got involved they agreed to meet. Brand wrote:

Eventually, with the involvement of police and the British embassy, the clinic responded, confirming Alastair's death and returning his ashes to his family in the post.

We persuaded a representative from Pegasos to meet with Judith and Bradley in Switzerland to answer their questions.

At an anonymous office in central Basel, we were greeted by Sean Davison, who had spoken repeatedly to Alastair before he died.

 Previous articles about Switzerland's assisted suicide law:

• A mother's warning about her sons death by assisted suicide in Switzerland (Link). 
• My husbands death made me more opposed to assisted suicide (Link). 
• Swiss study: Legalizing assisted suicide does not lessen the number of common suicides (Link).

Assisted Suicide: too many “complicating factors” to be safely implemented, says British poll

A poll, commissioned by Living and Dying Well, found that the British public believe there are too many ‘complicating factors’ for assisted suicide to be safely implemented in the UK.

See below Living and Dying Well’s press release, or download a PDF version here.

The poll found that:

• 56 per cent of those who express an opinion (71 percent of all those surveyed) support legalising assisted dying/assisted suicide (AD/AS) in principle but feel there are too many complicating factors to make it a practical and safe option to implement in Britain. 
• A majority feel that if AD/AS is legalised in the UK, patients should have the legal right to choose to be treated by doctors and other health professionals who have opted out of participating in it. 
• Legalising AD/AS is not a political priority for most people. Legalising AD/AS ranked 23 out of 24 of issues that need attention, with “regulating AI” and “international trade deals” ranking higher. Only four per cent thought it should be a priority for politicians. 
• 60 per cent of those surveyed worried that legalizing AD/AS would fundamentally change the relationship between doctor and patient, including more than half (51 per cent) of those who support AD/AS.

Assisted dying/assisted suicide has too many “complicating factors” to be implemented safely, says the British public in a major new poll. 

The poll, of more than 2,000 British adults, by British Polling Council member Whitestone Insight, finds that behind the headline figures of support for AD/AS, the public expressed ambivalence about its consequences and signalled serious doubts. 

The poll, commissioned by the think tank Living & Dying Well (LDW) and released just ahead of a new attempt in the House of Lords to change the law, also found:

• Seven in 10 (70 per cent) said that assistance in dying in countries like Canada and the Netherlands, where young people with no terminal illness are helped to die, has gone too far. This rose to more than eight in 10 (84 per cent) when those who answered ‘don’t know’ were discounted. 
• Young people reject AD/AS more than do any other age group. Fewer than half (44 per cent) of 18–24-year-olds supported legalising AD/AS. 
• A clear majority – 56 per cent – voiced fears that legalising AD/AS would lead to a culture where suicide becomes more normalised than it is today. This rose to 67 per cent when those who answered “don’t know” were omitted. 
• Similarly, 43 per cent fear that introducing AD/AS when the NHS and Social Care budget is under such pressure would inevitably place an incentive on health professionals to encourage some people to end their lives early.

Four in ten people (41 per cent) are concerned that introducing AD/AS when the NHS is under such strain would “inevitably” risk funding for palliative care services. The survey was conducted in the wake of comments made by a handful of politicians, who wrongly believe the public are broadly supportive of changing the law to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia. It is being released on the eve of the first reading of a new bill in House of Lords. It pushes back against the narrative frequently promoted by those who say the public support a change in the law and highlights the serious concerns of ordinary people that need to be considered by parliamentarians ahead of any future discussion.

The poll shows that support for AD/AS suicide amongst the public changes when confronted with evidence from where it is legal. Nearly half (47 per cent), for instance, worried that people in places where it is legal opt for AD/AS because they feel they are a burden. Of those expressing any opinion this concern rose to 59 per cent of those who said they support AD/AS. 

Half (50 per cent) of those who supported it in principle think that the fact that Canada saves money with every patient euthanized was a strong argument against legalisation. A third (33 per cent) of those who support AD/AS in practice thought that the revelation that rates in Oregon – the model for the current bill – went up by 260 per cent was concerning. 40 per cent of those who had supported legalisation reconsidered when confronted with the fact that young people suffering from mental illness were euthanized in Belgium and the Netherlands. 

On conscientious objection, more than three quarters (77 per cent) felt all doctors, healthcare workers, and hospices should have the right to opt out of the service. This rose to nine in 10 (89 per cent) of those who expressed an opinion. 

These results run in stark contrast to previous polls on the subject that frame the debate in a simplistic way without asking people to consider what changing the law actually entails. The poll shows that the British people are increasingly suspicious of AD/AS as disturbing evidence emerges from places like Canada.

Tanni Grey-Thompson

Tanni, The Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, chair of LDW, said: 

“This nationally representative poll conducted under British Polling Council guidelines gives a very different snapshot of ordinary peoples’ attitude towards assisted suicide than the glossy picture presented by proAD/AS organisations. It shows that, at best, people are ambivalent about the prospect. And the survey shows that the more people know about the issue, the more likely they are to reject this legislation.” 

Whitestone Insight surveyed 2001 GB adults online between 5 and 6 June 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of all adults. 

Whitestone Insight is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Approximately 15,300 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2023.

Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023 and more than 60,000 (as of December 31, 2023) since legalization. 

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition wonders why Canada's province of Saskatchewan had a greater than 25% increase in euthanasia deaths in 2023.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority reported to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition that there were 344 assisted deaths in 2023 up from 257 in 2022.

On July 8, 2024 we published an article estimating that there were approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023, a 15.4% increase based on data from Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta and Nova Scotia.

Based on data  published on July 8 there were approximately 15,280 Canadian assisted deaths in 2023. Here is how the numbers add up:

The BC Medical Assistance in Dying 2023 report stated that there were 2767 reported assisted deaths up 10% from 2515 in 2022.

CBC Radio Canada published an article on March 9, 2024 stating that in 2023 there were 5,686 reported deaths representing 7.3% of all deaths and a 17% increase in Québec euthanasia deaths from 2022.  This represents the highest euthanasia rate in the world. The Radio Canada report was based on the Quebec euthanasia deaths between January 1 - December 31, 2023.

The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario released the December 2023 MAiD data indicating that there were 4641 reported euthanasia deaths in 2023 which was up by 18% from 3934 reported euthanasia deaths in 2022.

The Alberta Health Services reports that there were 977 reported assisted deaths in 2023 which was up by more than 18% from 836 reported assisted deaths in 2022.

The Nova Scotia Medical Assistance in Dying data indicates that there were 342 reported assisted deaths in 2023 which was up by more than 25% from 272 in 2022.

An article published by Global News, which may only be preliminary data, indicated that there were 236 reported Manitoba assisted deaths in 2023 which was up by 6% from 223 in 2022.

According to the data from Ontario, Québec, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, British Columbia and Saskatchewan, there were 14,757 assisted deaths in 2023 (in those Provinces) which was up by 15.7% from 12,747 assisted deaths in 2022 (in those Provinces). 

Since the total number of Canadian assisted deaths in 2022 was 13,241, we estimate that there were approximately 15,280 Canadian assisted deaths in 2023.

California doctor faces up to 10 years in prison for fraudulently diagnosing his patients as terminal

Did any of Dr Victor Contreras's patients fraudulently die by assisted suicide? 

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Holly Vossel reported for The Hospice News on July 26 that a hospice physician in California faces up to 10 years in prison for defrauding the Medicare system by falsely claiming that his patients were terminal and thus qualifying them under Medicare for hospice. Vossel reported:

Two years following his arrest, Dr. Victor Contreras, 68, recently pled guilty to one count of health care fraud. Contreras served as a physician for two Pasadena-based providers, Saint Mariam Hospice Inc. and Arcadia Hospice Provider Inc.

Contreras defrauded Medicare of nearly $4 million in false and fraudulent hospice claims from July 2016 to February 2019, according to the plea agreement. U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. has scheduled a sentencing hearing for October 25, with Contreras facing a maximum of 10 years in federal prison.

“Contreras falsely stated on claims forms that patients had terminal illnesses to make them eligible for hospice services covered by Medicare, typically adopting diagnoses provided to him by hospice employees whether or not they were true,” the U.S. Department of Justice Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California indicated in a statement. “Contreras did so even though he was not the patients’ primary care physician and had not spoken to those primary care physicians about the patients’ conditions.”

This issue is significant for several reasons. 

The authorities are concerned with approximately $30 million in Medicare fraud. 

We are concerned with the ease of falsely declaring patients terminal considering that the same criteria for qualifying for hospice care also qualifies a patient for assisted suicide in California. Did any of Contreras's patients fraudulently die by assisted suicide?

Vossel reported for The Hospice News that:

Arcadia Hospice Provider submitted false Medicare claims to the tune of $23 million. Meanwhile, St. Mariam Hospice submitted nearly $13.5 million in false claims. Contreras was allegedly involved in roughly $5.1 million of these, according to the Justice Department.

Additional charges were issued to medical industry marketer Callie Jean Black, 65, who allegedly recruited patients for the hospice companies in exchange for illegal kickbacks, the Justice Department reported. Black was also arrested in 2022 and has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A sentencing trial is scheduled for October 15.

The charges also included the owner of the two hospice companies, Juanita Antenor, 61, who remains at large. Authorities have not been able to locate Antenor throughout the two-year investigation. The Justice Department believed Antenor could have relocated to the Philippines as of 2022, though nothing has been publicly confirmed.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition demands an audit of the medical records for people who have been approved for assisted suicide in California.

Further to that, we recognize that if such levels of Medicare fraud and falsely diagnosing people as terminal is possible in California, then it must also be possible in all American jurisdictions and even Canada.

Laws that permit the killing of people by assisted suicide can be abused. 

My key reasons for opposing assisted dying (euthanasia and assisted suicide)

Gordon Friesen

By Gordon Friesen
President, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

There are many reasons to oppose the legalization of assisted death. However, most of the ones we hear most frequently are not actually calls for the rejection of assisted death as such. They are concerned with more limited goals, associated with the interests of particular groups.

In this list, we can place the demand for doctors' conscience rights, the demand for greater Palliative Care access, and the disabled demand for greater social support. All of these are worthy goals, but they do not actually call for a prohibition of assisted death.

I therefore thought it would be useful to share my own key reasons for prohibiting (not merely palliating) the practices of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Key Reason # 1:

It is much better for modern society to continue in the principle that all killing is wrong, than to return to pre-modern debates over which killings are permissible.

Canadian doctors accused of pushing medically assisted death.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Heather Hancock

Michael Kaplan wrote an investigative report that was published by the New York Post on July 25, 2024 on how Canadians with disabilities are feeling pressured to "choose" euthanasia (MAiD). Kaplan interviews Heather Hancock, Roger Foley and myself, as well as euthanasia lobby leaders.

Heather Hancock was urged to "choose" euthanasia while she was receiving medical treatment in Alberta a few years ago. Kaplan interviewed Hancock and reports:

Recalling a rough morning while being treated at a hospital in Alberta, Canada, Hancock told The Post, "I wasn’t moving very well and the nurse on my ward looked at me and said, ‘You really should consider MAID. You’re not living. You’re just existing.’"

Hancock remembers being in shock over what she interpreted as a suggestion she should opt for death, rather than wasting Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system by staying alive. 

“I thought I misheard her; then the words settled into my being as she waited for an answer,” said Hancock. “I asked her, ‘Who gives you the right to judge what’s living and what’s existing?'”

According to Hancock, the nurse responded, “Now you’re just being selfish.”

“God put me into this world and he’s the only one taking me out,” Hancock added, “I told the nurse that my life is no less valuable than any other life.

“She just laughed in a mocking way and walked out of the room. I had that nurse removed from my care. I did not want to be anywhere near her.”

The nurse’s attitude is consistent with others Hancock says she has encountered. 

Hancock told Kaplan that:

We require more healthcare dollars than able-bodied people and often do not get the same level of service; some doctors don’t even bother trying,” said Hancock, explaining that MAID frequently gets presented as “a good solution to your situation.”

“They make you feel like you are less than human … like you have nothing to offer the world. Doctors couch it as ending people’s suffering when really they are killing you,” she added. 

Alex Schadenberg

Kaplan also interviewed me (Alex Schadenberg):

Opponents of MAID claim that those who advocate for the doctor-assisted suicide can be heavy handed to a damaging degree when suggesting it as an option.

“When you’re going through a difficult time and someone is telling you, ‘Oh, if I was in your situation, I would opt for MAID,’ well, that is not a helpful thing,” Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told The Post.

“Nearly every major hospital in Canada has a MAID team. These teams are each comprised of a couple doctors and a couple nurses who go throughout the hospital, making sure MAID is offered and available to people who want it. But they’re not just providing access to euthanasia, they are selling it.”

Kaplan asked for an example of "selling" euthanasia:

Schadenberg recalled a situation in Ottawa:“I received a call from a man who was visiting his father there. The MAID team came in, asked the father, who was suffering from a deadly condition, if he would like MAID. The dad said no.” 

But that was not the end of it. “When the family members went downstairs for coffees, the MAID team came back and asked the patient again. They thought he was saying no only because the family members were there.

“It’s not a point of suggestion when you continually harass people with this concept of MAID. The family was ticked off.”

Roger Foley

Kaplan interviewed Roger Foley who lives with cerebral ataxia.

“I’ve been pressured to do an assisted suicide,” he had told The Post, alleging this happened with caretakers at Victoria Hospital, a primarily government-funded facility in London, Ontario.

“They asked if I wanted an assisted death. I don’t. I was told that I would be charged $1,800 per day [for hospital care]. Nurses here told me that I should end my life. That shocked me.”

That conversation took place two years ago, at which point Foley was $2m in debt. According to Schadenberg, “His current situation is unchanged.”

Kaplan ends the article by providing more information about Roger Foley:

In a recent video, conducted by Amanda Achtman of the Dying to Meet You Project, Foley recalled being offered euthanasia “multiple times.”

In terms of the impact of the suggestion, he said, “It’s completely traumatized me. It’s an overlying option. When I say I am suicidal, I am met with, ‘Well, the hospital has a program to help you with that if you want to end your life.’

“There is not going to be a second within the rest of my life when I will not have flashbacks to it, to the devaluing of me and all that I am … I don’t want to give up my life.”

More information on this topic:

• Heather's story of being pressured to "choose" MAiD (Link). 
• Roger Foley: A passion to live (Link).
• Canadian woman pressured to "choose" euthanasia was told that she was selfish for living (Link).

American experience with assisted suicide confirms slippery slope

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Public Discourse published an excellent article by Richard Doerflinger, where Doerflinger explains to jurisdictions, such as Great Britain, that the assisted suicide slippery slope in America is disturbingly genuine. Doerflinger, who has researched the issue of assisted suicide for many years is challenging an Economist editorial supporting assisted suicide. 

Doerflinger writes:

Permitting assisted suicide for terminally ill patients has been debated for many years in Great Britain, as in the U.S. and other countries. The Parliament has never approved such a law, but proponents think this year may give them a victory.

The respected London-based periodical The Economist, which has supported the idea since 2015, recently weighed in with an editorial that offers a convenient overview of the campaign for what the editors call “assisted dying.” While dismissing the idea of a “slippery slope” toward broader killing, their own arguments illustrate that slope.

Doerflinger states the argument made by the Economist:

They begin with a broad claim that Britons “should have the right to choose the manner and timing of their death.” On its face, this is an argument for a “right” to suicide for everyone. The article ends with a call for a right held by all “adults of sound mind who are enduring unbearable suffering with no prospect of recovery,” noting that many people “suffer terribly with a disease that is not terminal.” Suffering, of course, is also not restricted to people with an illness.

The editorial’s insistence that people have a right to “take matters into their own hands” also misstates the issue. This is not about legalizing efforts to cause one’s own death, which have long been seen as meriting counseling and treatment rather than punishment. It is about some people—especially members of what some of us still call “the healing professions”—helping to cause the death of other people.

California 2023 report indicates that there were 884 reported assisted suicide deaths

 Approximately 925 Californians died by assisted suicide in 2023.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director,
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The 2023 California assisted suicide report was recently released indicating that there were 884 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2023 and 4287 reported assisted suicide deaths since legalization in 2016.

As with previous years, the report implies that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered) but the information in the report does not address that subject.

California does not report assisted suicide death complications. This is important since the 2023 Oregon assisted suicide report indicated that there was almost a 10% complication rate.

The 2022 California assisted suicide report stated that there were 853 reported assisted suicide deaths. The 2023 report corrected the 2022 data and states that there were 890 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2022. That a difference of 37 reported deaths.

In 2022  there were 294 Californians who were approved for assisted suicide but their ingestion status was unknown. These people had received the lethal poison but the authorities did not know if they had died by assisted suicide, died by a natural death, or remained alive. 

Based on the 2023 report, we now know that at least 37 of the 294 (ingestion status unknown) died by assisted suicide in 2022 and 49 of the 294 died by assisted suicide in 2023. Of the remaining 208 people, whose ingestion status was unknown in 2022 it is likely that some of them died by assisted suicide but the death was not reported.

The 2023 report indicates that there are 276 Californians who received the lethal poison but whose ingestion status was unknown. Based on the yearly data we know that some of the 276 people have died by assisted suicide but the assisted suicide report was submitted late and some of them will die by assisted suicide in 2024. 

Based on the percentage of assisted suicide reports that were submitted late in previous years, it is likely that the 2024 report will indicate that approximately 925 Californians reportedly died by assisted suicide in 2023.

As stated earlier, it is likely that some of the 276 Californians who received the lethal poison but whose ingestion status is unknown are unreported assisted suicide deaths.

California uses a self-reporting system, meaning that it is impossible to know that a person died by assisted suicide when the medical professional fails to submit the assisted suicide report.

Who dies by assisted suicide?

The 2023 California assisted suicide report states that since legalization 87.6% of the reported assisted suicide deaths were White, 6.4% were Asian, 3.8% were Hispanic and less than 1% were black.

California's population data indicates that: 40% are Hispanic, 35% are White, 15% are Asian and .5% are Black. Clearly assisted suicide is an issue of white privilege.

The data suggests that the number of assisted suicide deaths in 2023 remained steady. Considering the massive growth in assisted suicide deaths from 2021 (523) to 2022 (890) the slower growth may be temporary. Nonetheless, as in previous years, when the law is being challenged the number of deaths moderates. 

In April 2023, The United Spinal Association, Not Dead Yet, Institute for Patients’ Rights, Communities Actively Living Independent and Free, Lonnie VanHook, and Ingrid Tischer launched a lawsuit to strike down the California assisted suicide law with the goal of the case going to the US Supreme Court to strike down assisted laws throughout the US. (Link to the complaint).

The case asserted that the assisted suicide act is a discriminatory scheme, which creates a two-tiered medical system in which people who are suicidal receive radically different treatment responses by their physicians and protections from the State depending on whether the person has what the physician deems to be a “terminal disease”—which, by definition, is a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Link to the article). 

The case was denied by U.S. District Judge Fernando Aenlle-Rocha but an appeal of Aenlle-Rocha's decision has been filed.

Isle of Man House of Keys passes assisted suicide bill

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Isle of Man legislative building

The Isle of Man assisted dying bill passed on third reading in the House of Keys (Lower House).

Two-thirds of the 24 members of the House of Keys voted in favour of the assisted dying bill. The bill requires that a person be an adult (at least 18) given a 12 month prognosis and must live on the Isle of Man for at least 5 years to qualify to be killed.

Rebecca Brahde reported for BBC news on July 23 that significant opposition to the bill remains:

Tim Glover described the proposed bill as a "Pandora's box", adding that the views of a number of charities, community groups and churches had not been sought.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan raised concerns over the increase from six months life expectancy to 12 and noted that under the proposals only people "capable of ingesting the poison themselves" would be eligible.

Chris Thomas said any decision on proposed assisted dying legislation should be what was best for the Isle of Man, and not based on the campaigns of UK pressure groups.

Julie Edge said she believed it was “irresponsible” to support legislation where there was a lack of detail on how, where and by whom the service would be provided and administered, and how it would be funded.

When I spoke in the Isle of Man to members of the legislative council I had great hope because the Chief Minister opposed the bill.

Ashley Tracey reported for BBC news on July 24, 2024 that:

Chief executive of Dignity in Dying Sarah Wootton said the vote to take the bill forward was a "victory for compassion and common sense".

But campaign group Manx Duty of Care, made up of healthcare professionals, said the move was "deeply disappointing" and emotion had "overruled reason" during the debate.

Graham McAll

Isle of Man doctors remain opposed to assisted suicide. Tracey reported:

Retired GP Graham McAll, who is a member of an opposition group of about 150 health and social care workers, Manx Duty of Care, said the passing of the bill by MHKs meant "centuries of medical ethics were turned upside down".

Raising concerns over the future recruitment of doctors, he said it could "put staff off moving to the island", which would "also affect the health of hundreds of us".

GP Fiona Baker from the Isle of Man Medical Society said there was “sadness and anger” amongst its members that the bill was set to progress despite evidence presented to MHKs on “the damage it will do to our health service and the danger for our vulnerable groups in society”.

Doctors "see people every day in our surgeries" whose lives could be "ended prematurely because of a wrong diagnosis, wrong prognosis, and coercion that isn’t spotted”, she said.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition hopes that the Isle of Man Upper House (Tynwald) will prevent the legalization of assisted suicide.

Canada's euthanasia slippery slope.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article written by Meagan Gillmore and published in Canadian Affairs on July 19, 2024 refers to Canada's euthanasia law as a slippery slope. This article is important for how it covers Canada's euthanasia law but also how several American death lobby leaders respond.

Gillmore interviewed Ian McIntosh, a Canadian who lives in Virginia. Gillmore writes:

But reports of Canada’s permissive medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws, and stories of people accessing it due to poverty or disability, fill him with “profound concern and disbelief,” he said from northern Virginia, his home since 2016.

McIntosh, originally from Ontario, says if someone had told him in 2015 and 2016, when Canada’s first MAID law was being crafted, that Canada would eventually allow adults without terminal illnesses to qualify for MAID, he “would have said this is out of some horror novel, some dystopian novel.”

Thaddeus Pope

Gillmore quotes Thaddeus Pope, an American euthanasia activist and bio-ethicist, who states:

“When people say, ‘slippery slope,’ the implication is that the thing at the bottom of the slope is a place you do not want to be,”

“I don’t think the thing at the bottom of the slope is actually a thing to avoid, even if we were sliding there,”

“I don’t think we are, but even if we were sliding toward Canada, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

Thaddeus Pope stated on his Blog that:

I make some comments in this new article in Canadian Affairs. The article contrasts MAID laws in the United States and Canada. I argue that Canada is a model, not an anti-model.

Pope confirms the point that we have been making for several years. The American assisted suicide lobby wants to expand their laws from assisted suicide to euthanasia. In other words, the American assisted suicide lobby is not satisfied with limiting assisted deaths to doctors prescribing lethal poison, but rather they want to follow Canada's lead and allow doctors and nurses to lethally administer the poison.

Assisting a suicide is what is currently permitted in 10 US states but the assisted suicide lobby want to transform their laws to permit doctors and nurses directly killing their patients (euthanasia) which is a homicide and is what occurs in Canada.

Anita Cameron

Gillmore interviews Anita Cameron from Not Dead Yet. Gillmore writes:

Despite differences in law, philosophical arguments supporting and opposing MAID are similar in both countries. So are concerns that MAID will put people in vulnerable situations — including people with disabilities and those living in poverty — at increased risk of being explicitly or implicitly coerced into ending their lives.

Anita Cameron, director of minority outreach at Not Dead Yet, a national disability rights organization, says people with disabilities are scared that what has happened in Canada could happen in America. “We’re trying to sound the alarm here,” she said.

Cameron, who has multiple disabilities, lived in Canada temporarily when she was younger and once considered moving to Canada permanently. “There’s no way in this universe, this multiverse, or the next that I will move to Canada now,” she said.

Gillmore quotes Dr Mark Komrad, a psychiatrist in Maryland. Gillmore writes:

Dr. Mark Komrad, a practising psychiatrist and medical ethicist based in Maryland, where assisted dying legislation was recently introduced, says any form of MAID represents “a profound and fundamental change in civilization in general, certainly in medical ethics.”

It contradicts a clear medical ethic: that doctors do not harm their patients, he says.

Komrad became interested in assisted dying laws worldwide in 2015 when he heard of psychiatric patients in Europe dying by MAID. Soon, he learned about Canada. He now travels internationally, sharing his concerns about MAID, which he considers to be assisted suicide.

He compares himself to Paul Revere, who warned Americans about British armies during the American Revolution. Only, Komrad warns Americans about the dangers of MAID in Canada and elsewhere.

Gillmore continues:

The two countries have very different laws, says Pope. “Canada is basically the most permissive in the world, and the United States is the most restrictive in the world,” he said, comparing the countries’ eligibility criteria. “Even though they are right next to each other, they’re about as far apart as you can get in terms of eligibility and who can access it legally.”

In the US, patients must have a terminal illness — meaning medical professionals have determined they are reasonably likely to die within six months. Canada, by contrast, has never had a time-based requirement and removed the requirement that someone’s death be “reasonably foreseeable” in 2021. This created what is known as Track 2 MAID — MAID for people who have serious illnesses, diseases or disabilities and are suffering, but whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.

MAID is administered differently in the countries, too. In the US, patients must self-administer lethal drugs. In Canada, most patients receive the drugs intravenously. Fewer than seven people who died by MAID in both 2021 and 2022 self-administered the drugs, according to Health Canada reports.

Gillmore quotes Komrad:

“Canada is the most compelling case study for anyone who pays attention and is interested in this,” he says. Countries that legalized MAID before Canada, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, “are easy [for Americans] to dismiss” because of distance and size. Canada is closer to the US — geographically and culturally, he says.

“When you see this galloping [horse] of MAID in Canada, I think it’s a lot easier for Americans to identify that that can happen here,”

Gillmore juxtaposes Komrad with comments from Thaddeus Pope:

“Canada is, in a sense, 20 years ahead of the US on this,” he said. “Obviously, it’s informative to look at what might you authorize. You don’t have to do any of it.”

Pope supports Canada’s current laws, although some aspects of Track 2 MAID make him uncomfortable. He says there should be a way to ensure Track 2 applicants have seriously considered non-lethal options to relieve their suffering.

“I think that generally each person is the best judge for themselves of what is in their best interest,” he said. “I don’t think the right response is to completely ban that option for those people. But absolutely, I think that we should make sure that it’s carefully considered.”

The increasing number of MAID deaths in Canada “is a red flag,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that anything bad is happening.”

Gillmore gives Komrad the last word:

Komrad disagrees. The rapid rise in deaths by MAID in Canada should cause concern, he says. “Just because something is legal, doesn’t [mean] it’s ethical,” he said.

He hopes in the future people will look back at current support for MAID and ask, ‘What were they thinking?’

“Maybe I won’t be alive to see that,” he said. “But one day we may be able to look back and say that.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is working to educate and alert people to the dangers of euthanasia.

Britain's financial crisis may lead the government to legalize assisted suicide

Human life is devalued when a price is put on people's lives or their care

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director,
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

A report from the UK government's National Audit Office on the financial sustainability of the NHS - National Health Services in the UK, that was released on July 23, 2024 may lead to their government pushing to legalize assisted suicide.

The conclusion of the NHS financial sustainability report states:

The scale of challenge facing the NHS today and foreseeable in the years ahead is unprecedented.

When we consider how the health needs of the population look set to increase, we are concerned that the NHS may be working at the limits of a system which might break before it is again able to provide patients with care that meets standards for timeliness and accessibility.

The NHS financial sustainability report was released just when Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's Labour Party, became the Prime Minister. Starmer is a long-time promoter of assisted suicide. During the election Starmer promised that he would introduce a bill and allow a free-vote to legalize assisted suicide in the UK. The July 4 election resulted in the Labour Party winning a massive majority of seats.

An article in The Standard states about the NHS financial sustainability report:

The report is the ninth of its kind by the NAO, and the first to be published since February 2020.

Experts said its findings depict “a picture of systemic failures and inefficient decision-making”.

The report warned that NHS England’s financial position is “worsening” due to a “combination of long-standing and recent issues, including failure to invest in the estate, inflationary pressures, and the cost of post-pandemic recovery”.

The article also pointed out that the UK is undergoing a demographic shift towards an aging population.

It said there is scope for NHS England to “make better use” of its funds, but long-term sustainability depends on how the Government addresses the “steeply increasing demand for healthcare”.

It added that the country’s changing demographics “will continue to create significant additional demand for NHS services” and warned “people are living longer and spending more years in ill-health”.

According to the report, the NHS received £153 Billion and the combined deficit in the system was £1.4 Billion which doesn't take into account the increased funding that was already invested into the NHS system to balance the funding.

Legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide to control the cost of health care leads to dangerous outcomes, as has happened in Canada. 

When human lives are deemed to be "better off dead" or "costing too much" then people with healthcare needs, especially people with disabilities, will be urged to "choose" death. Subtle pressure is often enough to cause a significant shift in healthcare.

Tracy Poleczuk with her husband.

James Reinl recently published an article in the Daily Mail where he interviewed Heather Hancock, a Canadian Saskatchewan woman who lives with spastic cerebral palsy who was pressured three times, while receiving medical care, to ask for euthanasia.

An article by Matt Gilmour that was published by CTV news Montreal concerned Tracy Polewczuk, a woman who lives with Spina Bifida, who on two separate occasions was urged to request euthanasia by a medical professional without Tracy initiating the request.

Both Canadian women live with disabilities and feel that their lives have been devalued by the pressure to "choose" death over life.

Polewczuk told Gilmour in the interview that:

"Pain sucks. We all agree. It's terrible. I'm in pain 24/7. It never stops. I can survive that. I cannot survive being treated like a sack of meat,"

Heather Hancock

While Hancock told Reinl in the interview that:

A nurse was helping her into the bathroom at night, during a lengthy bout of care for muscular spasms in 2019, when the carer crossed a line into the unthinkable.

'You should do the right thing and consider MAiD,' said the nurse, referring to the country's Medical Assistance in Dying program.

'You're being selfish. You're not living, you're merely existing.'

Hancock, now 56, says she was 'gobsmacked' but stood her ground, telling the nurse that her life had value, even if she spent four fifths of it in a wheelchair.

People with disabilities are right to be concerned.

We fear that the NHS financial crisis may create pressure for the new UK government, led by long-time assisted suicide activist Keir Starmer, to push the UK government to legalize assisted suicide as soon as possible.

Human life is devalued when a price is put on people's lives or their care.

Contact Delaware Governor John Carney to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Everyone needs to contact Governor John Carney and urge him to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140. 

Call Governor Carney at: 302-744-4101 or email him at: john.carney@delaware.gov

A news story by Sarah Mueller for WHYY news stated:

Democratic Rep. Paul Baumbach, the prime sponsor, said the bill has not yet been sent to the governor. A spokesperson for the governor said lawyers were reviewing the legislation. Requests to clarify their answers received no response.

The Medical Futility blog by euthanasia activist, Thaddeus Pope, indicates that Delaware was now the 12th US jurisdiction to legalize assisted suicide since Governor John Carney had not signed or vetoed HB 140 within 10 days after transmittal.

Stephen Mendolsohn, who is a great political researcher, disagreed with Pope stating that the Delaware rules require the Governor to act within 30 days of adjournment or the legislation is "pocket vetoed" when a bill reaches the Governor after the session adjournment. The second scenario is in play in Delaware.

Today I called Governor Carney's office and asked for the status of HB 140. The response was that HB 140 has not yet reached the Governor's desk. A recent news article stated that Governor Carney has asked lawyers to examine the bill based on his concerns.

Everyone needs to contact Governor John Carney. Call him at: 302-744-4101 or email him at: john.carney@delaware.gov

Previous articles:

• Delaware Governor Carney needs to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140 to protect citizens in need of real care (Link).
• Delaware Governor John Carney needs to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140 (Link)

At least 4 New Zealand suicide deaths linked to Canadian

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Two of the suicide substance victims

The Agence France-Press reported on July 22 that at least 4 New Zealand suicide deaths are linked to a Canadian who sold "suicide kits" online.

Kenneth Law was charged with 14 counts of second degree murder in December 2023. Law is believed to have distributed "suicide kits" to 1200 people world-wide who ordered the kits online. Recent news reports indicate that Law's trial will begin in September 2025.

According to Agence France-Press:

A New Zealand coroner has formally linked four deaths to the sale of “suicide kits” bought online from a former Canadian chef, according to findings published Monday.

Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame found that three students, aged 18 to 21, and one 40-year-old personal trainer killed themselves after buying kits from businesses linked to Canadian Kenneth Law.

Canadian police believe Law sent as many as 1,200 “suicide kits” to people in more than 40 countries between 2020 and his arrest last year — specifically targeting vulnerable people online.

Agence France-Press reported that at least 88 people died in Britain after receiving the suicide kit.

Imogen Nunn

On August 27, 2023 Jon Woodward reported for CP 24 that:

The British mom of a TikTok star is coming forward demanding justice after she found out her daughter died using a so-called suicide kit allegedly sold by a Canadian man, as deaths possibly tied to Kenneth Law rise to over 100.

Louise Nunn said it was sickening to learn that the death of her daughter Imogen, known as “Deaf Immy” to 710,000 TikTok followers, was one of 88 British people local police say died after ordering products from Law’s websites over a two-year period.

Nunn said it was heartbreaking to learn of other deaths months and years before Imogen’s, and believes many lives could have been saved if authorities had acted earlier.

Charges against Law include a 16-year-old suicide death in Ontario. CBC News reported on May 8 that 17-year-old Anthony Jones from Michigan allegedly died in connection to Law's suicide kit.

Law appeared for a bail hearing on Friday August 25, 2023 and plead not guilty. Woodward reported:

Police in Canada have warned about the websites, allegedly run by Mississauga’s Kenneth Law, ...Peel Police said at the time of his arrest that they had tracked some 1,200 products to 40 countries.

Law claims that he is innocent of the charges and had no control over what people did with his suicide substance. Law was selling a legal product, that was packaged in a lethal dose. Law was promoting and selling the "suicide kit" allegedly purpose of suicide.