Kilmeade and Thaddeus Pope expressed support for involuntary euthanasia.

Meghan Schrader

By Meghan Schrader

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

On September 14th Fox and Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade said that mentally ill homeless people who do not agree to be institutionalized indefinitely should receive “involuntary lethal injection or something. Just kill em.” 

Article: Kilmeade must not just apologize, he must resign (Link).

As a person who has experienced severe mental illness and could have experienced homelessness without my family’s support, I feel strongly that Kilmeade’s milquetoast apology is not enough; I want him to be fired. His suggestion was not “callous;” he stated that society should mete out deadly violence to members of a marginalized group. Respecting the dignity of the people in that group requires harsh consequences.

But, while we’re holding people accountable for endorsing involuntary euthanasia, another public figure who could justifiably be deplatformed is “MAiD” movement leader Thaddeus Mason Pope. I think both men’s privilege makes it unlikely that they will be fired, but I still think it’s worth noting that both men have said that involuntary euthanasia is acceptable.

During an X conversation with scholar Christopher Lyons in which Lyons said that:

“consent is fundamental to MAiD. No consent is no consent and absolutely serious sanction/jail worthy,” 

Thaddeus Pope

Right to die movement leader Thaddeus Mason Pope said: 

“Agree. Obviously many jurisdictions will later authorize involuntary & involuntary euthanasia. But today we need valid consent.”

Pope did not say exactly who he thinks should be killed by involuntary euthanasia, but in my opinion the context doesn’t matter very much. Pope has no special right to have people assume the best about that statement.

Given that Pope is a highly influential leader in the “MAiD” movement, why shouldn’t disability justice advocates view some of the “MAiD” movement’s ideology as falling on the same spectrum of ableist violence as Kilmeade’s suggestion? Why should Pope’s statement about involuntary euthanasia be treated with any more respect than Kilmeade’s?

Justice requires that society not tolerate killing the members of a marginalized group because they are members of that group. Maybe Kilmeade and Pope could resign from their jobs and go live on a deserted island together. It seems like they have a lot in common.