The Oregon 2025 assisted suicide report. There is no effective oversight of Oregon's assisted suicide law.

A 2025 Oregon assisted suicide death took 123 hours (more than 5 days) to die.
This is not a peaceful or a dignified way to die.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

On April 6 I reported that the 2025 Oregon assisted suicide report stated that there were 637 poison prescriptions written in 2025 which was up from 609 in 2024. I also reported that the 2025 Oregon report indicated that there were 400 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2025.

I then stated that based on reporting issues there were likely 450 (not 400) assisted suicide deaths in 2025.

As stated in the headline, in 2025 the longest time of death was 123 hours (more than 5 days). Deaths that take 123 hours are clearly not a peaceful or dignified deaths. In 2023 the longest time of death was 137 hours (almost 6 days).

It is possible that there were other long drawn out deaths, but the Oregon report only has data when someone else was present at the death. The Oregon report indicates that data is only available in 291 of the 400 deaths.

Oregon assisted suicide reported deaths:

The 2024 Oregon report stated that there were 376 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024. The 2025 report updated the data and stated that there were 421 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024. Therefore more than 12% (45) of the Oregon assisted suicide death reports were received late.

When an Oregon doctor prescribes the assisted suicide poison cocktail the Oregon assisted suicide law requires that same doctor to send a report to the Oregon Health Authority after the patient died. 

The 2025 report stated that a doctor was present at the death in 111 of the 400 reported assisted suicide deaths and in 2024, a doctor was only present at the death in 117 of the 421 reported assisted suicide deaths. Since the prescribing doctor is usually not present at the death, it doesn't surprise me that many of the reports are submitted to the Oregon Health Authority late.

Based on the fact that more than 12% of the 2024 reports were reported in 2025, I predict a similar outcome in 2026 resulting in approximately 450 reported 2025 assisted suicide deaths being declared within the 2026 Oregon report.

For further clarification. The 2025 Oregon report stated that there were 389 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2023. The 2024 report stated that there were 386 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2023 and the 2023 report stated that there were 367 reported assisted suicide deaths. That means there were 2023 assisted suicide reports submitted in 2024 and there were 2023 assisted suicide death reports submitted in 2025.

Are there unreported assisted suicide deaths in Oregon?

The Oregon Health Authority does not investigate the deaths of people who were prescribed and receiving a poison cocktail but whose doctor did not submit an assisted suicide report. Therefore I can only speculate that some Oregon assisted suicide deaths go unreported.

The data is suspicious.

According to the 2025 Oregon assisted suicide report, 637 poison prescriptions were obtained. The 637 poison prescriptions resulted in 358 people who were known to have died by assisted suicide, (42 people were known to have died by assisted suicide but received the poison in previous years), 100 people died a natural death and the ingestion status was unknown in 179 cases of which 80 died but the ingestion status was unknown and for 99 people the death and ingestion status was unknown.

When the ingestion status is unknown the Oregon Health Authority does not know if the person died a natural death or died by assisted suicide.

Since I am predicting that 50 of the 179 "ingestion status unknown" cases are assisted suicide deaths where the assisted suicide report will be received late. But considering the fact that a doctor is usually not at the death, it is likely that some of the remaining 129 "ingestion status unknown" cases are actually unreported assisted suicide deaths.

Oregon is not the only state with these reporting problems.

The California 2024 assisted suicide report also reported that a significant number of assisted suicide reports received late, but the 2024 California report also indicated that of the 1591 Californians who received the poison prescription, the ingestion status was unknown for 388 of the people. It is likely that California has a problem with the under reporting of assisted suicide deaths.

Are there other ways that the Oregon law lacks oversight?

The Oregon assisted suicide law was sold to the public based on competent adults who are freely consenting and "self-ingest" the poison. 

In most Oregon assisted suicide deaths there is no way to know whether those conditions were met. The first reason is that a medical professional is usually not at the death. The second reason is that the Oregon law relies on a self-reporting system, meaning, the doctor who prescribes the poison is also the doctor that is required to report the death. There is no effective oversight in a self-reporting system. Doctors will not self-report abuse of the law. The third reason is that the Oregon Health Authority does not have the legislated authority to research the cases where the person died and the ingestion status is unknown.

Killing has become a specialty.

The 2025 report states that 155 physicians prescribed assisted suicide poison at least once, but one physician, in 2025, prescribed the assisted suicide poison 101 times. In 2024 one physician prescribed the poison 84 times and in 2023 one physician prescribed the poison 76 times. It is very likely that one physician has prescribed the assisted suicide poison 261 times in the past three years.

Inadequate pain control is not a primary reason for assisted suicide requests.

The death lobby sells the legalization of assisted suicide based on the fear of dying a painful death, but the data indicates that most people do not seek assisted suicide based on inadequate control of pain. 

The 2025 report states that the three main reasons that Oregonians asked for assisted suicide were: 89% Losing autonomy, 89% Less able to engage in activities that make life enjoyable, 65% Loss of dignity (an undefined concern).

There is much more that I could write about the 2025 Oregon assisted suicide report but I will conclude by pointing out a few more concerns:

• 2 out of 637 people who were prescribed poison received a psychological or psychiatric evaluation and in 2024 not one of the 609 who were prescribed poison received a psychological or psychiatric evaluation.

• 54% of the people who died by assisted suicide were women.

• There were 37 out of state residents who were prescribed poison.

More information on these topics.

• Oregon 2024 assisted suicide report (Read).
• The California 2024 assisted suicide report. The data is not accurate (Read).
• Washington state had a record number of assisted suicide deaths (Read).

EPC Press Conference on Monday April 13 at 9:30 am.

April 10, 2026

Media Release

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) is hosting a press conference at the Parliamentary Press Gallery Room 135-B in West Block on Monday April 13 at: 9:30 am.

EPC is a national organization that works to prevent euthanasia and assisted suicide since 1998.

The EPC has more than 7000 supporters comprised of medical professionals, disability leaders and regular citizens from every region of the country.

Our Media Conference will focus on:

• Support for Bill C-218 and opposition to MAiD for Mental Illness alone, a provision that is scheduled to begin on March 17, 2027.
• The fact that as of mid-April, 100,000 Canadians will have died by MAiD since legalization less than 10 years ago.

Our speakers:

Dr. Peter Blusanovics is a Montreal Quebec physician who cares for patients at a leading psychiatric hospital in Montreal.

Dr. Paul Saba is a family physicians from Lachine Quebec who is well known for his clinical experience for caring for patients with disabilities and difficult health conditions.

Alex Schadenberg is the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition who will speak about the current MAiD data. We mourn 100,000 MAiD deaths in Canada.

The press conference will be followed by a short rally on Parliament Hill starting at 12 pm.

For more information contact:

Alex Schadenberg,
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
519-851-1434 (cell)

Euthanasia activist says that Canada must allow euthanasia for mental illness.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Jocelyn Downie

Tristan Hopper reported for the National Post on April 9 that Jocelyn Downie, a long-time euthanasia academic told Canada's Parliamentary Committee on euthanasia, that is studying euthanasia for mental illness alone, that parliament must stick to the March 17, 2027 timeline and permit euthanasia based on mental illness alone. Downie threatened the committee by stating:

“What will happen, if there is an extension or an exclusion, is that people will die by suicide”

Downie is saying that the answer to suicidal ideation is suicide and people will die by suicide if they do not have access to euthanasia.

The threat that people who are denied euthanasia will die by suicide is a pressure tactic that is not true. 

The Supreme Court of Canada accepted the suicide argument in Carter when it struck down Canada's laws that protected people from being killed by euthanasia, but the Supreme Court was wrong.

If the premise that people will die by suicide if euthanasia is not available to them is correct then Canada's suicide rate should have gone down after euthanasia became an option for people who are not terminally ill.

But Canada's suicide rate has increased.

According to the Government of Canada suicide mortality statistics, there were 3,978 recorded suicide deaths in Canada in 2016, the year that Canada legalized euthanasia. In 2021, the year that Canada expanded the euthanasia law to people who are not terminally ill, there were 3,927 recorded suicide deaths. In 2023, two years after extending euthanasia to people who are not terminally ill, there were 4,735 reported suicide deaths in Canada, representing a greater than 20% increase from 2021.

I am not arguing that Canada's increase in suicide deaths was directly related to Canada's expansion of euthanasia, but I am saying that if Jocelyn Downie was correct, the suicide rate should have decreased, whereas in fact it has significantly increased.

Canada has had a massive increase in deaths by euthanasia.

Health Canada released their Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada on November 28, 2025 (2024 deaths) which indicated a 6.9% increase from the Fifth Annual report (2023 deaths).

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

In 2025, we know that euthanasia increased by 7.3% in Ontario and 11% increase in Alberta. 

 

I predict that in 2025, the increase in Canadian (MAiD) euthanasia deaths was greater than 7% with the number of euthanasia deaths being approximately 17,700.

 

Clearly, there is no indication that the massive growth in Canadian euthanasia deaths has resulted in a lower rate of other suicides.

Suicide rates do not decrease in jurisdictions that have legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Senator Stanley Kutcher

In December 2020 I responded to a statement by Canadian Senator Stanley Kutcher who said:

in jurisdictions, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, where assisted death is legal, that the suicide rates have decreased. He then stated that there is no link between assisted death and the rate of suicide in jurisdictions where it is legal.

The problem with Senator Kutcher's statement was that he was absolutely wrong. 

In the article I explain that in jurisdictions that have legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide, there are no jurisdictions, that over a long period of time, have experienced a decrease in suicide deaths.

Further to that, in February 2022 bio-ethicist David Albert Jones published an article explaining that: In Europe, suicides rise after ‘right-to-die’ is legalised. Jones provided a comparison between European countries that have legalized assisted dying and those that had not legalized it and found that countries that had legalized assisted dying experienced an increase in suicide rates compared to countries that had not legalized assisted dying who generally had a lessening of the suicide rate.

In other words, Downie is using a false argument to scare monger Members of Parliament into approving euthanasia for mental illness alone. Downie uses court decisions to uphold her position but the Justices are not suicide prevention experts and in fact are wrong in their assumption that legalizing euthanasia will prevent suicide. 

Minimally speaking, legalizing euthanasia does not lead to a decrease in suicide rates and the data suggests that legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide has a suicide contagion effect leading, long term, to higher suicide rates.

More articles on this topic:

• Legalizing assisted suicide does not decrease other suicide deaths (Read).
• Suicide rates in jurisdictions that have legalized assisted death are not decreasing (Link).
• Legal assisted suicide encourages other suicide (Link).
• The Supreme Court of Canada was wrong on assisted dying (Link).

28% of Canadians support euthanasia for mental illness

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Polling data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, in partnership with Cardus, published on September 28, 2023 indicated that:

Three-in-ten (28%) say they support allowing those whose sole condition is mental illness to seek MAID, while half are opposed (50%).

Four-in-five (82%) Canadians feel mental health care should be improved first before MAID eligibility is expanded to include those whose sole condition is a mental illness. That includes seven-in-ten (69%) of those who support this expansion of MAID eligibility.

The data revealed that:

a vast majority of Canadians are concerned with the mental health care resources available in the country (80%) and the state of Canadians’ mental health overall (81%).

According to the Angus Reid Institute poll:

Overall, one-in-five (19%) Canadians say they’ve looked for treatment for a mental health issue from a professional in the last 12 months. In that group, two-in-five say they’ve faced barriers to receive the treatment they wanted. These obstacles appear to be more of an issue for women (45% of those who sought treatment say it was difficult to receive) and young Canadian adults aged 18-34 (51%).

The poll found that 40% of the people who sought treatment for mental health in the last 12 months faced barriers to receiving treatment.

Considering the difficulties that Canadians experience accessing mental health treatment, the Angus Reid Institute asked participants about their support for MAiD (euthanasia) in general and if they support the expansion of MAiD to include the sole condition of mental illness. The poll indicated that:

Majorities of Canadians support the previous rules governing MAID, first passed in 2016 (64%) and then updated in 2021 (60%), but there is more hesitation when it comes to this next step. Three-in-ten (28%) say they support allowing those whose sole condition is mental illness to seek MAID, while half are opposed (50%).

Nationally, 28% of Canadians support allowing those whose sole condition is mental illness to die by MAiD but the data varies by province. The poll indicated:

There is much more opposition to the proposed expansion to include mental illness as an eligible sole condition for MAID. At most, one-third in B.C. (33%), Manitoba (35%) and Quebec (31%) say they support this change to MAID eligibility.

The lowest support for MAiD for mental illness alone was (21%) in Alberta.

Support for MAiD for mental illness alone also varied by political affiliation. (22%) of Conservatives voters, (31%) of Liberals voters, (37%) of NDP voters, and (28%) of Bloc voters supported euthanasia for mental illness alone.

Tamara Jansen (MP) sponsored Private Members Bill C-218 to prevent the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness alone in Canada. Bill C-218 will soon have it's second hour of debate in parliament.

Canadians clearly support Bill C-218.

The Angus Reid Institute is a national, not-for-profit, non-partisan public opinion research foundation. The Institute surveyed 1872 Canadians between September 19 - 22, 2023.

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.

My mother had severe mental illness. I support Bill C-218.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

In March 2021, the Canadian government expanded the euthanasia law by passing Bill C-7. One of the expansions in the law permitted euthanasia for a mental illness alone. The government originally approved a two-year moratorium for euthanasia for mental illness alone to provide time and prepare for the change.

The government has now delayed the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness alone twice and currently euthanasia for mental illness alone will begin on March 17, 2027.

In June, 2025, Tamara Jansen (MP - Cloverdale - Langley City) introduced private members Bill C-218 in parliament to prevent euthanasia (MAiD) for mental illness alone. 

Bill C-218 excludes mental illness from being defined as a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" for the purposes of MAiD. Bill C-218, if passed will prevent MAID for mental illness alone.

On April 7, 2026 the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition received a message from woman who is urging the passage of Bill C-218 based on her personal experience. She stated:

I am a 73-year-old woman. My mother had severe mental illness and received many shock treatments that eventually put her over the edge and doctors thought she would be in the hospital for the rest of her life. Thankfully a medication was found that worked for her. 

My mother was an extremely intelligent woman who raised 11 children. She babysat my children her grandchildren as well and she lived to be 80 years old. 

My youngest son is bipolar as well and fortunately has a psychiatrist. 

When my mother was sick, and my children were young, I would just very calmly say to them that grandma‘s not well right now. They always understood and loved her unconditionally.

There are several effective ways you help get Bill C-218 passed:

1. Sign the petition in support of Bill C-218 (Link).
2. Share your story about living with mental illness, as Andrew Lawton (MP) did with his message: I got better. Support Bill C-218 prevent MAiD for Mental Illness (Link). 
3. Send your personal stories about living with mental illness to info@epcc.ca.
4. Contact your Member of Parliament and share your story or share your support for Bill C-218. Contact your Member of Parliament at: (Member of Parliament List).
5. Often it is easier and more efffective to call your Member of Parliament. The phone numbers are part of the MP contact information. (Member of Parliament List).
6. Refer to the information in the Bill C-218 handout for Members of Parliament (Link).

Remember. The majority of Canadians do not support MAiD for mental illness. 

 

To pass, Bill C-218 will need Members of Parliament from all political parties to support it. Keys to speaking to your Member of Parliament:

• Only comment on MAiD for mental illness alone. Bill C-218 only deals with that issue. There are many concerns, but mixing issues weakens your position.
• Contact your Member of Parliament, even if you know his/her position on MAiD.
• Ask others, including groups that you belong to, to contact the Member of Parliament.

More information on Bill C-218.

• Bill C-218 introduced to prevent MAiD for Mental Illness (Link). 
• Support Bill C-218. No to MAiD for Mental Illness (Link). 
• Supporting Bill C-218 - I am so thankful to be alive (Link). 
• I got better. Support Bill C-218 prevent MAiD for Mental Illness (Link). 
• My story: No to MAiD for Mental Illness (Link). 
• Patti's story. Support Bill C-218. (Link).
• The majority of Canadians do not support MAiD (euthanasia) for mental illness (Link).

Join the EPC rally on Parliament Hill on Monday April 13.

Join the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition on Monday, April 13 for one hour at 12 noon as we rally to support Bill C-218 and as we mourn the loss of 100,000 Canadians to euthanasia since legalization.

Email info@epcc.ca if you plan to attend.

We are supporting Tamara Jansen (MP) (the sponsor of Bill C-218) and we urge Members of Parliament to support Bill C-218, the bill that will reverse the law permitting euthanasia for mental illness alone. 

Canada is scheduled to permit euthanasia for mental illness alone, starting on March 17, 2027, Bill C-218 will prevent it.

Canada will also surpass 100,000 euthanasia deaths since legalization in mid-late April 2026 (Read article).

We mourn 100,000 Canadians who were killed by euthanasia.

For more information contact EPC at: info@epcc.ca

Canada's parliament has also appointed a new Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying to examine the issue of MAiD for mental illness (Read article).

Plan now to attend the rally on April 13.

Comments On The Absurd Death of An Autistic Teenager

Meghan Schrader

By Meghan Schrader

I’ve been spending a lot of time reflecting on how good my life is right now. It’s been spring in Central Texas since February, and the program I teach at has had classes outside, like next to a turtle pond and a running creek. I‘ve found myself thinking of how wonderful it is to see the fish swimming in the stream, to see the turtles sunning themselves on the rocks, to feel the sun and the breeze on my face, to smell the Texas Mountain Laurel bushes with flowers that smell like grape candy, to have a job where I help others, to have long-desired writing and speaking opportunities, to  work in an intellectually stimulating environment, to live in a lovely apartment with my sweet, cuddly cat, to have close friends and kind coworkers and to be able to share that happiness with my family. 

So, I’m glad that a doctor didn’t help me kill myself when I was a clinically depressed autistic teenager, as one poor Netherlands adolescent experienced in 2023. 

He’s not the only clinically depressed autistic person to die by euthanasia in the Netherlands. In addition to the 2026 news story about his death, there was a similar story in the news in 2023. According to a recent article in the Atlantic, psychiatric euthanasia for Dutch teenagers with “terminal” mental illnesses is a “thing.”

In his interview for the National Post’s story on the issue, Canadian psychiatrist and mental health expert Sonu Gaind asserted, “To say, ‘this is now a terminal psychiatric condition’ has no scientific basis. The whole concept is nebulous.”

Sonu Gaind is right. I am not sure what would make a psychiatrist decide that a teenager whose brain is still developing  is “terminally” mentally ill. Then again, there is widespread ableism in mental healthcare; that’s why American disability rights advocates spearheaded an X hashtag campaign called #MyAbleistTherapist. For instance, a therapist once announced to me that my depression and neurological disabilities were so severe that I would never work. Did this teenager’s providers give him a similar message, except they went a step further and suggested that he be killed? 

As I’ve noted, this diagnosis of “terminal” psychiatric illness is generally opposed by disability justice advocates, disability studies scholars, etc. For instance, journalist Steve Silberman, whose book Neurotribes is viewed as the definitive history of the neurodiversity movement, remarked on a 2023 report about euthanasia for autism by asserting, “Horrific. #Autistic adults in the Netherlands are choosing medically assisted suicide because they can no longer stand the pain of loneliness.” In a 2015 editorial opposing Washington D.C.’s “MAiD” bill, internationally recognized disability justice advocate Ly Xīnzhèn M. Zhǎngsūn Brown notes:

“Our world is dominated by public discourse that considers disabled lives inherently defective, burdensome, suffering, and not worth living.” 

“MAiD” programs and other forms of violence that spring from this attitude are an injustice to disabled people of all ages. But declaring an autistic teenager’s mental illness “terminal” and euthanizing him takes that attitude to a ridiculous extreme. Even though I know that some “MAiD” advocates are fine with euthanizing children, I can’t help but be reflexively surprised that even the most vociferous “MAiD” acolyte wouldn’t think that euthanizing an autistic teenager is absurd. 

But perhaps this is what happens when powerful people decide that “MAiD” is no different than any other “medical procedure.” For instance, in an article in the Canadian Journal of Bioethics called “What’s so Special About Medically Assisted Dying?,” bioethicist Wayne Sumner asserts: 

If more awareness, more providers, and more support are good things for these other services, why are they a bad thing for MAiD? Why should we think differently about MAiD than we do about other medical procedures? What’s so special about MAiD?”

I guess if you think that death is no big deal, then you won’t mind snuffing out the life of an disabled teenager. 

This cultural climate is one of the reasons that so many disability justice advocates oppose any “MAiD.” I think disability justice “MAiD” opponents generally understand that many Oregon model “MAiD”  proponents would never think of euthanizing an autistic teenager. But the general consensus is that some “MAiD” proponents have no such compunction, so it’s best to nip the US “MAiD” movement in the bud, before it gets out of control. 

Author Note: For a description of the kind of future that disabled adolescents deserve, view the 2024 PSA for World Down Syndrome Day called “Assume That I Can.”

Meghan is a disability instructor and a member of the EPC-USA board.