New York is opening a "pandora's box" with assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Rita Busby, Debbie Fisher

Chadwick Moore published a warning to New Yorkers in the New York Post on April 8, 2026 referring to the legalization of assisted suicide as opening a pandora's box. The law will come into effect in August.

Moore interviewed several Canadians about their experience with assisted death. Canada will soon surpass 100,000 assisted deaths in less than 10 years of killing.

Debbie Fisher explained how her mom was almost killed by euthanasia in Canada. Moore writes:

The Canadian’s elderly mother, Rita Busby, came dangerously close to being euthanized over a single sentence.

Her mom, who was active and independent in spite of her 93 years, ended up in the hospital after accidentally overdosing on a drug she was prescribed. Drowsy and not thinking straight, Busby had made an offhand comment to one of the nurses that she “wanted to die.” Hospital workers took her at her word.

Rita Busby at 93.

Moore explains that a psychologist told Fisher that they were planning to euthanize her mom, a woman who was a devout Catholic. Fisher told Moore:

“I was terrified. I couldn’t believe what was happening. They talked to me like I was putting a dog down,” Fisher, 71, told The Post from her home in Ontario, Canada.

But Busby had also signed a Power of Attorney for Personal Care document that included statements opposing euthanasia and assisted suicide. Moore writes:

“My mom wanted to die, she didn’t want to be killed!” Fisher said. “If I hadn’t been there, and she hadn’t signed over Power of Attorney, who knows what would have happened”

“People don’t understand there’s a lot of things that go on behind the scenes [in hospitals] when there’s no one there to protect them,” said Fisher.

Moore completes the story by explaining that Busby, lived another 6 months and during that time she continued to go bowling and attend baseball games. She also attended a family reunion and mended family relationships before she died a natural death.

Heather Hancock

Moore interviewed Heather Hancock (58) who lives with cerebral palsy. Heather gave Moore a warning for New York:

“You just opened Pandora’s Box and the slippery slope will get very steep very fast,”

“This is eugenics and this is genocide against the [disadvantaged],” she claims.

Hancock has been pressured into "requesting" euthanasia several times. Moore explains:

During one hospital visit, “the nurse on my ward looked at me and said, ‘You really should consider MAiD. You’re not living. You’re just existing,” she recalled to The Post.

She now carries a laminated “do not euthanize” card wherever she goes.

Hancock warns New Yorkers how legalizing assisted suicide may threaten their lives.

“Keep your ears and eyes open, especially if you have a disability or mental illness or are in any way considered a disadvantaged or non-contributing member of society. Those are the people that are targeted,” she said.

“[PAS] is an effective way to get rid of those they deem draining the healthcare system. It’s not compassionate.”

Alex Schadenberg, (myself) the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition told Moore that the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is how it is carried out. With euthanasia the medical professional injects the patient (homicide) whereas with assisted suicide the medical professional prescribes the same lethal poison but the person is required to self-ingest. Moore writes:

So far, no state has legalized euthanasia — the form of assisted suicide where a medical professional administers the lethal agent rather than being prescribed a deadly drug the patient takes on their own.

“It (euthanasia) makes it feel more like a medical act. People feel more obligated to it because, of course, the doctor has to schedule it,” Alex Schadenberg, executive director of Canada’s Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, an advocacy group, told The Post.

Canada, which has a socialized medical system, will formally legalize euthanasia for mental health as the sole underlying condition in 2027, if legal challenges against the expansion are unsuccessful.

Schadenberg warned New Yorker's about how assisted suicide can be pushed based on medical costs. Moore writes:

“It could be really touchy for someone in New York if they don’t have the gold standard in health insurance and they develop some kind of disability,” said Schadenberg.

“In Canada we have serious funding problems in our healthcare system, hospitals are running deficits. They would never say it to you, but clearly dead people don’t cost money.”

“You’ve had cases of people who are homeless asking to be approved for euthanasia,” he added, which was reported on in 2024.

Moore reported that Canada's general suicide rate has increased by 10.5% since 2021, the same year that Canada expanded it's euthanasia law to include people who are not terminally ill. Moore then pointed to a European study concerning the suicide rate countries that have legalized euthanasia and wrote:

In Europe the numbers are more staggering: suicides increased by 18.5 percent — and raised by nearly 40 percent in women — among nine countries where PAS is permitted, according to a 2022 study.

I responded to Moore by stating:

“[PAS] demystifies the issue of suicide. It takes away the whole concept that suicide is not the right way to go,” said Schadenberg.

Moore then commented on the recent Spanish euthanasia death of Noelia Castillo (25) who became disabled after a failed suicide attempt and then she was approved for euthanasia based on her injuries caused by the suicide attempt. Castillo was known to have significant mental health issues.

In 2021 Canada expanded it's assisted dying law in several ways including eliminating the 10-day waiting period and allowing a same-day death when someone is deemed to be terminally ill (Track 1).

When asked how legal assisted suicide affects the culture I stated:

“It changes medicine,”

“People have to recognize the importance of being there with their loved ones in the hospital. In our culture, there are too many people going through difficult health conditions alone and that actually breeds the death idea.”

Fisher responded to Moore about the affect on culture by stating:

But Fisher said that sends the wrong message to everyone else. “If it’s legal, it must be OK. That’s the mindset they’re in,” she said.

Adding: “My body, my choice and I’m just going to go to sleep and all my problems go away. But the families are left behind.

“It’s like a holocaust. It serves no purpose.”

During the interview with Chadwick Moore I also explained that the number of New York assisted suicide deaths will start slowly, as the medical community will not be used to killing their patients, but once assisted suicide becomes accepted the numbers will grow. Another important factor is that nearly every jurisdiction that has legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide has later expanded their law.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition supports a culture that cares for its citizens, and never kills.