Assisted Suicide for Eating Disorders.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On July 30, 2026 we published an article about the Colorado 2025 assisted suicide data. There were three key take-aways from the Colorado data.

1. Colorado does not know how many people died by assisted suicide. 
2. Colorado has missing data concerning how many lethal poison prescriptions were filled.
3. 
   The number of people who were approved for assisted suicide for eating disorders in Colorado has grown substantially. In 2024, 19 people with eating disorders were approved for assisted suicide and in 2025, 17 people with eating disorders were approved for assisted suicide.

During the assisted suicide bill debate in the UK, Eat, Breathe, Thrive, an organization that specializes in the treatment of eating disorders produced a video about the threat of legalizing assisted suicide for people with eating disorders. 

The video features Ailidh, who lives with an eating disorder and says:

I'm worried. My concerns lie with people like myself who are still in the throws of anorexia right now and what the assisted dying bill could mean for them and the families.

The film shows an anthropologist speaking to the UK assisted dying bill committee claiming that only one or two people have died by assisted suicide for eating disorders in America.

Considering the fact that Colorado alone approved 19 people in 2024 and 17 people in 2025 for assisted suicide based on an eating disorder, clearly the comments to the committee were wrong.

Chelsea Roff

Chelsea Roff, the founder of Eat, Breathe, Thrive, explains the study that they did on assisted death for eating disorders and found that at least 60 people died by an assisted death based on having an eating disorder.

People with eating disorders are living with a serious but treatable condition. 

They are not terminally ill.