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).

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.

Oregon 2025 assisted suicide report: A record number of poison prescriptions.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, 

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The 2025 Oregon assisted suicide report stated that 637 lethal poison prescriptions were written under the Oregon assisted suicide law which was up from 609 in 2024 and 566 in 2023.

Tom Jeanne, M.D., MPH, the deputy state health officer and epidemiologist at OHA’s Public Health Division stated that:

“What we’ve been seeing over the last several years is a steady overall increase in prescriptions and deaths among Death with Dignity Act participants,”

The 2025 Oregon report indicated that there were 421 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024 and 400 in 2025. Due to reporting problems there were likely 450 assisted suicide deaths in 2025.

The problem with inaccurate data.

Similar to previous years the 2025 report updated the data from the 2024 report. The 2024 report stated that there were 376 assisted suicide deaths, but the 2025 report stated that there were 421 reported assisted suicide deaths in 2024. The 2025 report increased the number of 2024 reported assisted suicide deaths by 45 or more than 12%.

The OHA must have received 45 assisted suicide death reports from 2024 later in 2025. Some people suggest that the Oregon assisted suicide report is published too early for doctors to report all assisted suicide deaths. But that is not the case. The 2024 report was published on March 27, 2025 whereas in years earlier the report was published in late January or early February. Since there is no effective oversight of the law, some doctors are submitting their death reports much later and it is likely that some death reports are never submitted.

The 2025 report indicated that there were 400 reported assisted suicide deaths. I predict that the actual number is around 450 assisted suicide deaths or 12.5% higher.

According to the report:

• 24 (6%) of the 400 DWDA patients who died in 2025 had outlived their prognosis—that is, they lived more than six months after receiving their prescription.
• 94% of the participants were white
• 37 prescription recipients (6%) lived outside Oregon, an increase from 24 (4%) in 2024.

The last point indicates that suicide tourism is increasing in Oregon. There may be more out-of-state assisted suicide deaths than indicated in the report since the Oregon Health Authority has no jurisdicion over deaths that occur outside of Oregon.

As in previous years, the three most frequently reported end‐of‐life concerns were:

• loss of autonomy (89%), 
• decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (89%), 
• and loss of dignity (65%). 

As in previous years, pain and symptom control are not among the top reasons for assisted suicide in Oregon.

There is little oversight of the law and if a doctor did not submit an assisted suicide report, there is no way for the Oregon Health Authority to know.

The data also lacks accuracy since the law does not require third party oversight. Therefore it is impossible to know if the deaths were freely requested or voluntary.

It is important to note that the Oregon Health Authority depends on a self-reporting system. The data is gathered from the reports is submitted by the doctors who prescribed the suicide poison. Concerns with individual cases are "covered up" since the doctors who carry out the death also report the death.

Nothing in the report assures the readers that assisted suicide about choice and autonomy. These laws give doctors the legal right to be involved with killing their patients.

I am working on a deeper analysis of the Oregon 2025 assisted suicide report. 

Links to more articles on this topic:

• The push to legalize and extend assisted suicide in America (Link).
• Oregon 2024 assisted suicide report (Link). 
• Death by assisted suicide is not what you think it is (Link). 
• Assisted suicide: Proceed with caution (Link). 
• Assisted suicide is the wrong prescription (Link). 
• Assisted suicide. It's not that simple (Link). 
• Assisted suicide deaths are not what you think they are (Link). 
• Assisted suicide is neither painless nor dignified (Link).

Do you have a story? Order our poster today.

Do you have a story?

There have been almost 100,000 (MAiD) euthanasia deaths in Canada since legalization. 

Many people have contacted EPC seeking advice to prevent a euthanasia death or who are grieving the death of a loved one or friend.

When people tell their story, it leads to more people becoming open to sharing their story --- and this helps everyone.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has produced 8.5 x 11 posters  to encourage people to contact EPC to tell us their story. EPC will send you posters upon request. These can be displayed at a local church, nursing home, etc. Please have posters displayed in prominent places.

You can order the posters by contacting EPC at: info@epcc.ca or 1-877-439-3348.

You can make a donation to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition for the cost of this campaign. (Donation link).

Order Your Life Is Worth Living! Euthanasia is NOT the answer. (Link).

The $650,000 Killing — Predators in the Living Room When “Mercy” Becomes Manslaughter

This article was published by Kelsi Sheren on her substack on April 2, 2026.

When “Mercy” Becomes Manslaughter

By Kelsi Sheren

The “Death with Dignity” crowd is lying to you, shocker. They want you to think this is about a peaceful goodbye. It’s not. It’s about vultures circling the vulnerable, and a Colorado courtroom is finally exposing the bone-chilling truth.

A family is facing manslaughter charges for the death of a 91-year-old woman. But they didn’t act alone. They had a playbook provided by the Final Exit Network (FEN)—a predatory group of “exit guides” who specialize in teaching people how to die in the shadows.

Article: Family members charged with manslaughter in Colorado "assisted suicide" (Read)

Let’s call FEN what they are, a domestic threat to our elders. They don’t provide hospice. They don’t provide comfort. They provide a technical manual for suicide. They fly across the country to whisper in the ears of the fearful, telling them that their “civil right” is to quit. They operate on the fringes of the law, hiding behind the excuse that they only provide “education.”

Education? No. They provide the blueprints for a killing.

“Police say Kim attended a Final Exit Network workshop weeks before Milsy's death at The Lodge at Balfour, the same facility where Milsy lived. Texts show Kim brought in gear to make sure they had the right equipment, stating, "We've got the right equipment. I brought it in a (sic) showed it to one of the guides."

This wasn’t a doctor in a lab coat. This was a mechanical, cold-blooded execution. Following the FEN method, this 91-year-old woman was killed using a “suicide hood”—a plastic bag fitted with a tube and connected to a tank of nitrogen. They literally murdered this women with a plastic bag and called it compassion.

The goal of this method isn’t just death; it’s concealment. Nitrogen displaces oxygen, suffocating the victim while leaving almost no trace for a coroner to find. It’s designed to look like a “natural death” so the predators can walk away clean. It is a cowardly way to die and an even more cowardly way to “help” someone.

Here is the jagged pill the “mercy” activists don’t want you to swallow: $650,000.

That was the inheritance waiting on the other side of that nitrogen tank. When you normalize the idea that life is disposable, you create a market for death. If a grandmother is worth more dead than alive to the people in her own home, and an organization like Final Exit Network is there to provide the “how-to,” she is as good as gone.

This wasn’t compassion. It was a transaction. It was the ultimate abandonment of a woman who had seen 91 years of life, only to be ushered into the dark because she became an obstacle to a payout.

As a veteran, I’ve seen what happens when we decide some lives aren’t worth protecting. We are losing our collective soul to convenience and greed. We are trading our grandmothers for bank balances and calling it “progress.”

I’m done being polite about this and have been for a while. If we don’t stand up against groups like the Final Exit Network, Compassion and Choices, Dying with Dignity and the culture that empowers them, we are next and so are your kids.

The assisted suicide lobby have targeted Arizona for legalization

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have stated many times that the assisted suicide lobby has targeted Arizona and Florida for legalization based on the demographics of those states.

Now that Arizona assisted suicide bill (HB 2569) died a natural death, the assisted suicide lobby has begun a propaganda campaign to pave the way for assisted suicide legalization in 2027 with an article written by Claudia Núñez that was published in the AZCentral titled: Death with Dignity Laws are spreading, so why not in Arizona?

The article reads like an assisted suicide propaganda piece.

The assisted suicide lobby is concerned about the euthanasia stories that are being published. Núñez writes:

Although medical aid in dying and euthanasia are often used interchangeably in everyday language, they are governed by very different legal, medical, and ethical frameworks. Euthanasia is widely permitted in other countries, even for patients experiencing chronic, non-terminal suffering such as occurred this week in Spain.

The key distinction lies in the final act. Under Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), the patient must self-administer the medication. The physician prescribes the drug but does not directly participate in administering it. In active euthanasia, medical personnel directly administer the lethal substance once specific requirements are met.

The article is right when it states that the key distinction between euthanasia and assisted suicide is the completion of the act. The intention to kill and the lethal poison are not different, the only difference is who carries out the act.

Núñez explains, from the point of view of the assisted suicide lobby, the euthanasia death of Noelia Castillo Ramos (25) who was recently killed by lethal injection in Spain.

Núñez argues that American assisted suicide statutes have very strict guidelines while ignoring the fact that in 2023 in Oregon, the longest time of an assisted suicide death was 137 hours. In 2024, the Oregon Health Authority reported that the ingestion status was unknown in 178 of the 607 lethal poison prescriptions that had been approved and received. In other words, there is no effective oversight of the Oregon law.

The article continues with more propaganda promoting the assisted suicide talking points and ends by confirming that the assisted suicide lobby will continue lobbying politicians and they will support another Arizona assisted suicide bill in 2027.

Family members charged with manslaughter in Colorado "assisted suicide" death.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty

Jennifer Kovaleski reported for Denver 7 (ABC) News that Mildred “Milsy” Roller (91) died on February 18, 2024 by asphyxiation and not by assisted suicide. Assisted suicide is legal in the state of Colorado.

If you have suicidal thoughts, do not read this article, but seek help through a suicide help-line.

Kovaleski reported that:

Officers with the Louisville Police Department said they found Milsy inside her room at The Lodge at Balfour, a Boulder County assisted living facility, with a bag over her head connected by a tube to a nitrogen gas bottle. Beside her was a suicide note with the date changed from Feb. 5 to Feb. 18, 2024.

Family members have been charged with manslaughter. Kovaleski states:

An indictment details text messages, purchases, and planning that prosecutors said crossed the line from the right to die into felony manslaughter. According to the indictment, texts included statements like, "We need to talk about whether mom needs a will," and "She needs to write a suicide note and she really couldn’t today."

Court records say Milsy's daughter, Kim Roller, bought a nitrogen tank three days before Milsy died. Kim's brother-in-law David Norton ordered a pressure flow regulator from Amazon and helped Milsy install it, according to the indictment. Prosecutors say there had been a failed suicide attempt earlier that month.

According to the indictment Milsy had no terminal diagnosis and her family stood to inherit more than $650,000.

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougher said:

"This is definitely about fighting for justice. And she doesn't have a voice in this process,"

Final Exit Network (FEN) involvement.

Kovaleski reported that Milsy's daughter Kim attended a FEN meeting where she learned how to kill her mother.

Police say Kim attended a Final Exit Network (FEN) workshop weeks before Milsy's death at The Lodge at Balfour, the same facility where Milsy lived. Texts show Kim brought in gear to make sure they had the right equipment, stating, "We've got the right equipment. I brought it in a (sic) showed it to one of the guides."

FEN is a group that provides instructions to enable people to die by suicide, but these instructions also enable people to kill, which is what happened to Milsy.

Kovaleski reported that the police have instructed the FEN to change its Colorado workshops, making sure participants understand the law and cutting out step-by-step instructions.

FEN is a type of "criminal" killing organization, as it provides information and advise to people to enable them to kill.

FEN has been associated with multiple concerning deaths. 

• In February 2026 a Texas woman was arrested for assisting her husband's suicide (Read).

• In July 2024, a retired doctor and assisted suicide activist, who worked with FEN, was charged with manslaughter in New York State (Read).

• In June 2021, FEN launched a court case to try to overturn the Minnesota assisted suicide law. The court case was an attempt to overturn the 2015 conviction in the death of Doreen in 2007. The Final Exit Network or FEN was found guilty, by a jury, of assisted suicide in the suicide of Doreen Dunn (57) in 2007, who was depressed but not terminally ill. (Read).

FEN continues their work under the guise of free speech and they avoid being prosecuted based on the fact that dead people don't talk.

Milsy Roller was not terminally ill. Milsy was allegedly killed by her daughter and son-in-law with instructions and coaching from the FEN.  

Since assisted suicide is legal in Colorado, If Milsy was terminally ill she may have been pressured to death by "legal" assisted suicide. So what's the difference.

Being killed by assisted suicide is legal. They cannot prove coercion in assisted suicide deaths. Being killed by manslaughter, a type of murder, is not legal with the same outcome.

It's time that we simply stop allowing people to kill people.

Alberta Bill 18 will prevent euthanasia of people who are not terminally ill.

Alberta Bill 18 was debated in the Alberta legislature on March 31, 2026. The debate begin on page 1332 of Hansard.

Hon. Mickey Amery

This is the speech by Alberta's Minister of Justice, Hon Mickey Amery in support of Bill 18.

Bill 18 will provide limits to euthanasia (Read).

Second Reading Bill 18 Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act

The Speaker: The Hon. Minister of Justice. Mr. Amery: Well, thank you very much, 

Mr. Speaker. As always, I am pleased to rise and speak in this Chamber, in particular today to Bill 18, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act. 

If passed, this critically important bill would assure that medical assistance in dying remains an exception, an end-of-life intervention, and should not become routine or replace the provision of proper medical care, disability, or social care here in Alberta. Bill 18 would help ensure the protection of vulnerable Albertans and that medical assistance in dying, or MAID, as it’s commonly referred to, is only provided as a means of last resort as it was first intended to be when limited MAID criminal defences were added in 2016 to the federal Criminal Code. Our government believes that when the outcome is death, the system must meet the highest standards of care, transparency, oversight, and, of course, accountability. 

Mr. Speaker, we also believe that the compassionate approach is one that helps people live with dignity, not defaulting to doctor assisted death. It was with that in mind that we undertook the development of this legislation. It’s become abundantly clear and evident that we need to bring in safeguards to ensure protection, care, and dignity for all, especially our most vulnerable. 

Now, Canada has the fastest growing death rates in the world when it comes to MAID. Far from being an option of last resort, MAID is now the fifth leading cause of death in Canada. The country is currently projected to reach its 100,000th death by MAID in June, (actually mid-April) becoming the first nation in the modern era to measure its total assisted deaths in the six figures, more than the totals of any other jurisdiction with some form of legal, doctor-assisted death. Far from being the exception, an option of last resort, it has instead become routine, rising 13-fold since legalization. 

When legalized, MAID was always intended to be an option of last resort, yet it has become a substitute for care for those who are suffering from loneliness, poverty, mental illness, or social isolation. Health Canada reports that nearly half of track 2 MAID deaths involved suffering from loneliness or isolation, while almost half indicated that they felt that they were a burden. Ontario’s MAID Death Review Committee found that most track 2 recipients were low income. Many did not name a family member as next of kin, suggesting that they were experiencing some form of social isolation. 

Mr. Speaker, that information is sobering and it is saddening. It drives home just how important it is that we provide the necessary safeguards before things completely spiral out of control. Our government believes that those experiencing loneliness, isolation, or poverty should be met with compassion and care, not with doctor-assisted death.

Now, similarly, in March of 2025 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities released findings on Canada’s compliance with the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. The committee sounded the alarm on track 2 MAID in Canada, suggesting that it devalues people with disabilities and acts as a dangerous alternative to providing social and economic supports. They have called on Canada to repeal MAID where death is not reasonably foreseeable. 

If passed, Bill 18 affirms this recommendation, limiting MAID in Alberta to those whose natural death has been determined to be reasonably foreseeable. Now, when this bill was tabled, Inclusion Alberta affirmed this direction, stating that “track 2 MAID discriminates against persons with disabilities and [it] reinforces dangerous stereotypes about the [value or] worth of their lives.” Bill 18 will serve as a correction. It would protect Albertans with disabilities from discrimination by ensuring Alberta’s health system does not provide assisted suicide to people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable. 

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that MAID should not be a substitute for robust health care options, mental health supports, or palliative care. To this end, one of our government’s central concerns raised through the review is the federal government’s planned expansion of MAID eligibility to include individuals who only have an underlying health condition of mental illness. Now, there’s a serious risk that vulnerable Albertans living with mental illness may choose this most final of actions when other treatment options are available. A majority of Canadians do not support this MAID expansion, with September 2023 polling finding that only 28 per cent of Canadians believe that this expansion is appropriate and 82 per cent of Canadians believing that mental health care should be improved instead. 

If Bill 18 is passed, MAID would be prohibited for people whose sole condition is seeking MAID for an underlying mental health illness. Now, as the CEO for the centre of suicide prevention Alberta has stated at the tabling of Bill 18: recovery from mental illness is possible, expected even; for that reason, we welcome the steps Alberta is taking through the legislation to strengthen protections for those experiencing mental illness. 

Mr. Speaker, the compassionate response to those suffering from mental illness is what this government has been doing since the very beginning. It is support and care. It is not death.

To further protect vulnerable Albertans, Alberta’s legislation would prohibit MAID for minors and those without capacity to make their own health care decisions. It would also make sure that the consultation is robust, that consultation provided ensures that those that are seeking MAID are not coerced or pressured and that those individuals who are looking to get MAID are the ones that take a proactive approach to seek that information. Mr. Speaker, coercion and pressure is not a real choice. Albertans should never be pressured to end their own lives. Now, Bill 18 strengthens protections of vulnerable individuals from coercion by ensuring that regulated health care professionals cannot initiate MAID discussions in the course of providing everyday health services. Instead, the patient must inquire about MAID services first. This government believes and it always has believed that when it comes to MAID, care should always be the first option. 

The proposed legislation would address gaps in the current federal system within Alberta. It would ensure that vulnerable Albertans, including those suffering from mental illness, are protected by setting strong and consistent standards. I urge all members in this House to take the approach of compassion and be mindful about the sensitivities and the complexities of this consequential and very important bill. I would hope that the members opposite and members on this side of the Assembly support this very important bill. Mr. Speaker, hope must always be more accessible than death. 

With that, Mr. Speaker, I move second reading of Bill 18. Thank you.

Animals can have no kill shelters. Why not humans?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Shropshire ca retirement village.

I read an article about the Shropshire cat retirement village that provide a no kill shelter for elderly cats.

I do not consider cats to be equal to humans, but I am concerned that the legalization of euthanasia in Canada has affected the care of  people that are elderly and nearing death.

There are excellent services and institutions that provide care for people, as they become older or approach the end of life, but these institutions and services have been affected by government rules requiring hospice and palliative care institutions to provide euthanasia. There is also pressure on care homes to allow euthanasia.

There are euthanasia free animal shelters and services. Why can't there be euthanasia free hospice and palliative care services?

For instance, in British Columbia, the Delta Hospice Society was defunded and their 10 bed hospice building was expropriated by the British Columbia government because they refused to kill their patients. The Delta Hospice Society is not the only palliative care / hospice organization that was pressured to kill their patients.

One of the reasons that I strongly support Alberta Bill 18, the bill that provides limits to euthanasia in Alberta, is that Bill 18 will give medical institutions the right to operate a no kill facility.

If cats can have euthanasia free care facilities, then humans should have the same.

This blog rarely publishes anonymous comments and never publishes inappropriate ones

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Many people leave comments on the blog that we do not publish. Th EPCblog is moderated by myself and I will my not publish comments that are left Anonymous. 

I made this decision, a few years ago, after receiving attacking or rude comments from people. Usually these attacks were made by an anonymous person but even if the person attaches their name to a rude or attacking comment, I will not publish it.

Further to that, I will often not publish comments that concern other divisive issues.

I do not publish comments that are illegal or inappropriate. [The death lobby have often attempted to publish lethal drug ordering information on a EPC blog article.]

Sometimes, but not always, I will publishe excellent comments even though the person was Anonymous.

Whether the comment is positive or negative, I will usually not publish an anonymous comment.

More CBC euthanasia (MAiD) propaganda.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

CBC news is once again providing one-sided propaganda of killing by euthanasia (MAiD) in Canada. This time the CBC News article written by Emily Rae Pasiuk attacks Bill 18, the Alberta government bill that provides oversight for euthanasia in Alberta

Essentially Bill 18 requires a person to have a 12 month terminal prognosis and the person would need to ask for euthanasia rather than have the doctor offer it. 

Bill 18 also prevents the further expansion of euthanasia in Alberta.

Pasiuk uses the typical CBC News propaganda style. She quotes from one group that supports Bill 18 and then includes several stories opposing Bill 18. 

Worst of all, she creates a false mystique around Bill 18 to rile up the readers.

The reference for Pasiuk's article is a letter published in the Edmonton Journal on March 27 that was signed by 25 euthanasia (MAiD) providers who oppose Bill 18. Pasiuk states:

Some health-care workers who either directly provide medical assistance in dying or work in that field say they are strongly opposed to Bill 18 — which, if passed, would prevent doctors or nurse practitioners from administering MAID to patients if they are unlikely to die within the next 12 months.

"The proposed mandates and sanctions place clinicians in ethically untenable positions, undermining professional judgment and eroding trust within the therapeutic relationship," the letter reads, in part.

Pasiuk does quote Trish Bowman the CEO of the disability rights group Inclusion Alberta, who said:

"We know it reinforces incredibly negative and dangerous stereotypes about the value and worth of the lives of people with disabilities. And so we're very pleased to see this legislation today that serves to protect them," Bowman said on the day the bill was introduced.

Pasiuk then interviews Judy McPherson, whose son Brian, was killed by euthanasia (MAiD) last year. Brian was a Paralympic athlete who was featured in several previous CBC articles as an example of a person with disabilities who was killed by euthanasia. Pasiuk made sure to follow Bowman's short quote with McPherson's story. 

Dr Adrian Wagg who has done hundreds of "euthanasia assessments" was quoted next. Pasiuk writes:

He said a lot of track 2 requests have involved chronic neurodegenerative diseases; things like ALS, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis for individuals who, "in their opinion, have no quality of life and are suffering daily. And those individuals would be ineligible."

It is important to note that Wagg has not only done hundreds of assessments, he has killed hundreds of people. Referring to assessments is less controversial than referring to deaths.

Nonetheless, Wagg is suggesting that some people with ALS, Parkinson's disease or MS have "no quality of life." I have known many people with these conditions, so I am not negating the difficulty of living with these conditions, but Wagg is actually saying that they are "better off dead." In the current culture Wagg is upheld as compassionate. In reality Wagg's attitude is eugenic as he supports killing people with disabilities.

Eugenics is a very dangerous ideology. Inclusion Canada, and other leading disability groups recognize that Track 2 euthanasia deaths (killing someone who is not terminally ill) always concerns a person with a disability and is based on a eugenic ideology that some people need to be killed.

What does Alberta Bill 18 actually do?

Bill 18 will create greater oversight of (MAiD) euthanasia in Alberta through their provincial powers and it accomplishes a few key outcomes. Bill 18 will:

• require the individual to have a 12 month terminal prognosis, thus preventing Track 2 euthanasia approvals. Track 2 refers to euthanasia for people who are not terminally ill.
• prevent the expansion of euthanasia to people with mental illness alone, 
• prevent the expansion of euthanasia to "mature minors", prevent euthanasia for people who cannot consent, prevent euthanasia by advanced request.
• prevent out of province referrals,
• require the assessor to contact other practitioners who have cared for the patient, before approval.
• require (MAiD) euthanasia practitioners to receive specific training,
• prevent health care practitioners from introducing euthanasia, without a request,
• require Regulatory Colleges to sanction practitioners who violate the act.
• provide conscience rights by enabling practitioners to refuse to participate or provide assessments for (MAiD) euthanasia,
• enable institutions to refuse to participate or provide assessments for euthanasia,
• practitioners who refuse to participate or provide assessments to provide information to patients wanting to access euthanasia.

Alberta Health Services released its 2025 (MAiD) euthanasia data indicating that there were 1,242 reported euthanasia deaths in Alberta which was up by more than 11% from 1,117 in 2024. Alberta represents 11.8% of Canada's population.

CBC is known for it's pro-death ideology and reporting. Emily Rae Pasiuk's report is one of many ideologically based propaganda articles promoting killing by euthanasia (MAiD).