EPC video: No MAiD for Mental Illness. Support Bill C-218.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) supports Bill C-218, a private members bill that would prevent MAiD for Mental Illness alone in Canada. (Link to the campaign article).

In March 2021, the Canadian government expanded the euthanasia law by passing Bill C-7. One of the expansions was to permit euthanasia (MAiD) for a mental illness alone. The government delayed MAiD for mental illness alone to provide time to prepare for this change. The government is now planning to implement MAiD for mental illness alone on March 17, 2027. Bill C-218 would prevent MAiD for mental illness alone.

EPC is producing a social change film. Part of that film concerns euthanasia for mental illness. Please share our short video: No MAiD for Mental Illness (Video Link).

This short video features: Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of EPC; Alicia Duncan, whose mother died by euthanasia based on mental health, Kelsi Sheren, a combat veteran who experienced PTSD while serving our country, Dr. David D'Souza, a chronic pain specialist and Dr. Will Johnston, a family physician and leader of Euthanasia Resistance BC.

To pass, Bill C-218 needs Member of Parliament from all political parties to support it. Talking points for 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 their 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).

Canada reports record number of euthanasia deaths in 2024.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I reported on November 28 that Health Canada finally released their Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada on November 28, 2025.

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

From legalization until December 31, 2024 there were 76,475 MAiD deaths in Canada. Considering that it is now at the end of November 2025, it is likely that there have been at least 92,000 MAiD (euthanasia) deaths in Canada since legalization.

Christine Rouselle first explains some of Canada's death statistics:

In 2024, 16,499 people total died through MAiD, an increase of 6.9% over 2023's total. This now brings the number of Canadians who have died through MAiD to over 76,000 since its legalization in 2016.

This figure amounts for slightly more than one in every 20 deaths in Canada each year.

In 2021, Canada expanded the eligibility for MAiD to include people who did not have a reasonably foreseeable death, and instead had a "grievous and irremediable medical condition." These deaths are known as "Track 2" for purposes of MAiD statistics.

The number of Track 2 deaths have also increased substantially since its legalization. In 2024, there were 732 Track 2 deaths, an increase of more than 100 in 2023. In 2022, the first full year Track 2 MAiD was legal, there were 469 of these deaths. People who opt for Track 2 MAiD were more likely to be women and were younger on average than the people with "reasonably foreseeable" deaths on Track 1.

Alex Schadenberg

Rouselle then reported my comments:

Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told Aleteia that the latest report from Canada shows there are many things to be concerned about.

"Canada is becoming the world leader in killing its citizens. It is normalizing and medicalizing killing," he said.

When Canada first instituted MAiD, the practice was supposed to be "a freedom for terminally ill competent adults who are suffering," said Schadenberg. "It is now being sold to people who are not dying, who have questionable competence, and whose suffering is related to disability and the lack of supports they receive."

Rouselle continued by reporting on more of the death statistics:

The report showed that nearly all (97.5% of Track 2 and 95.1% of Track 1) MAiD recipients reported they had a "loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities." The next most-cited reason for pursuing MAiD was "loss of ability to perform activities of daily living," "loss of independence," and "loss of dignity."

"Inadequate pain control, or concern about it" was reported by a considerably smaller percentage of MAiD recipients: 59.8% of Track 1 and 55.9% of Track 2. This made it the sixth-most cited reason.

Nearly half — 44.7% — of Track 2 MAiD recipients cited "isolation or loneliness" as a cause of their distress. Only about a fifth, or 21.9%, of Track 1 recipients claimed loneliness.

Rouselle completed her article by quoting me:

Canada is also poised to further expand eligibility for MAID, noted Schadenberg. Beginning in March 2027, Canadians with mental illness as a sole underlying condition will be able to receive MAID, and lawmakers "are discussing euthanasia for mature minors (children) and people who are incompetent, but made a previous request to be killed."

"Canada's euthanasia law is a warning to the world," said Schadenberg. "Don't legalize medical homicide."

More information on Canada's euthanasia deaths:

• Health Canada 2024 report indicates that 16,499 people died by euthanasia representing 5.1% of all deaths (Link).

Media Advisory: We support Bill C-218. No to MAiD for Mental Illness.

We support Bill C-218. No to MAiD for Mental Illness. (Link to Media Advisory)

Press Conference: Friday, December 5, 2025 at 10 a.m.

Location: Parliamentary Press Gallery – Room 135B West Block

Alex Schadenberg

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) is hosting a press conference at the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Ottawa on Friday, December 5, at 10 am.

The press conference will focus on our support for Bill C-218, a private members bill that will prevent the implementation MAiD for mental illness alone, and the reality of permitting MAiD for mental illness alone.

Bill C-218 receives its first hour of debate in parliament on December 5 at 1:30 pm.

Alicia Duncan

Speakers: Alex Schadenberg, EPC Executive Director, Alicia Duncan, whose mother died by MAiD based on mental health, Kelsi Sheren, Combat veteran, CEO, mental health expert and social media influencer, and Dr Paul Saba, a family physician in Lachine Québec who will speak about his experience.

The press conference will focus on our support for Bill C-218, the private members bill that will prevent the implementation MAiD for mental illness alone, and the reality of permitting MAiD for mental illness alone.

Kelsi Sheren

Alex Schadenberg will share key stories from people who have lived with chronic mental health issues.

Alicia Duncan will speak about the MAiD death of her mother and her personal experience with MAiD for mental illness.

Kelsi Sheren, who is a Canada combat veteran who required treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after returning from Afghanistan will speak about the affect of allowing MAiD for mental illness.

Dr Paul Saba

Dr Paul Saba is a family physician in Lachine Québec who has personal experience with caring for people with mental health related trauma.

For more information contact Alex Schadenberg at: 519-851-1434 or email: alex@epcc.ca

To participate in-person or by zoom contact the Parliamentary Press Gallery at: pressres2@parl.gc.ca.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has almost 60,000 supporters from different political beliefs who unite in opposition to MAiD.

New York Governor Hochul seeks changes to assisted suicide bill.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Governor Kathy Hochul

In June, 2025 the New York State Senate approved assisted suicide Bill A136/S138 that was approved by the State Assembly in April.

We were wondering what was happening to the New York assisted suicide bill since the bill had not yet reached Governor Hochul for signing.

An article by Jimmy Vielkind that was published by the Gothamist on December 3 is reporting that Governor Hochul is negotiating with the sponsors of the assisted suicide bill to amend the bill. According to Vielkind:

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to add a requirement that people videotape their requests for physician-assisted deaths, one of several conditions she’s put forward to sign the hotly debated Medical Aid in Dying Act.

The Democratic governor proposed the amendments to the Legislature late last month, according to two people briefed on the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly about them. Talks are ongoing, the people said.

Hochul is seeking a waiting period and to restrict the bill to New York residents. Vielkind wrote:

Hochul is also pushing to create a seven-day waiting period for terminally ill patients who seek life-ending drugs from physicians. Another proposed provision would require all patients who ask doctors to help end their lives to undergo a mental health evaluation by a psychiatrist.

The governor also wants to restrict the practice to New York residents. And instead of having the bill become law immediately after her signature, she has proposed delaying its effective date by a year.

Vielkind reported that: 

Assemblymember Amy Paulin and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the bill’s sponsors, said they couldn’t comment about the bill’s status. Hochul’s spokesperson Kara Cumoletti said the governor “continues to review the legislation.”

Sadly this means that Governor Hochul doesn't recognize that assisted suicide is innately dangerous, discriminatory and wrong.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is urging all of its supporters to call New York Governor Kathy Hochul at: 518-474-8390 and urge her to veto the assisted suicide bill.

International Suicide Prevention Organization Opposes Assisted Suicide

Published by the National Review online on December 3, 2025.

Wesley Smith

By Wesley J Smith

One of my great frustrations has been the general silence of suicide prevention organizations in the face of the legalization of assisted suicide in various jurisdictions. To me, this failure has been an abdication of such groups' core responsibility because it ignores some suicides, does not oppose facilitation of the suicides of the ill and disabled, and does not grapple with the adverse impact that assisted suicide advocacy can have on suicidal people generally.

That silence has now ended. The International Association for Suicide Prevention just issued a (not quite strong enough) position paper that (equivocally) opposes legalization. From, the “IASP Position Statement on Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (2025)” (my emphasis):

At the present time, countries and jurisdictions are increasingly legalising and regulating assisted suicide, euthanasia, or both practices (sometimes called “Medically Assisted Death,” “Physician Assisted Death,” “Medical Aid in Dying” or similar terms). Assisted suicide is when a medical practitioner provides a patient who has asked to die with the means, usually prescription drugs, for the patient to self-administer to end their own life. Euthanasia is when the medical practitioner directly administers the lethal substance.

There is a strong potential for overlap or equivalence between what we consider to be suicide and euthanasia and assisted suicide (EaAS), particularly when EaAS is provided not at the end of life and instead to those with chronic conditions for whom death is not imminent. . . .

Jurisdictions considering legalising and/or expanding the availability of assisted suicide and euthanasia should engage meaningfully with suicide prevention experts and/or organisations to carefully weigh concerns about overlap between what is being contemplated and what we usually consider to be suicide. Any such concerns should have a prominent impact on decision-making.

No, there is an absolute overlap. Assisted suicide is suicide, which is a “what” descriptor, not a “why.” Euthanasia is homicide at the request of a suicidal patient. So, while I am quite pleased the IASP has issued this statement, it would have been far better had it not distinguished between the suicides of chronically ill people and of those who are believed to be close to death.

The rest of the statement is better:

Jurisdictions that legalise and regulate assisted suicide and euthanasia must ensure that other means to alleviate a person’s physical and emotional suffering, including provision of better psychosocial and material supports, mental health services and palliative care, are systematically offered and provided. Death should never be a substitute for adequate care and support.

They certainly should, but no law of which I am aware so requires. Indeed, most allow the suicidal person to define what constitutes unbearable suffering, regardless of the objective ability to ameliorate pain or other symptoms.

More:

We must ensure that all persons considering ending their lives or having their lives ended by others, have access to high quality suicide prevention assessments and interventions, regardless of their problems, circumstances and status of their eligibility for EaAS.

Pie in the sky. No law in any jurisdictions of which I am aware so requires, and proponents would object because they pretend that assisted suicide isn’t really suicide. Moreover, people who ask for hastened death rarely, if ever, are offered prevention services — which would be less effective in any event if the suicidal person knew that at the end of the process, he or she could still receive help to die.

All people and organisations who work in suicide prevention must do their utmost to provide the same level of quality help and interventions to all people who express a wish to die, regardless of the means chosen to end their life and the nature of their circumstances. In our work, we should never take the position that there is a category apart of people who may be “better off dead,” and encourage them to seek death as a solution to their problems.

Preach it! But that would require not distinguishing among suicidal people.

The organization wants more research done on the nexus between assisted suicide and suicide:

IASP encourages and supports research on the relationship between suicide and assisted suicide and euthanasia, and research on best practices in suicide prevention assessments and interventions with persons who are suffering from irremediable medical conditions, as well as ethical standards for suicide prevention with these populations.

I, too, favor more research, but most studies that have been already conducted demonstrate that legalizing assisted suicide increases suicide generally.

So, a round of applause for the IASP for taking a good stand. It isn’t as strong as I would have liked — which would be absolutist — but considering the cowardly silence we have seen for the longest time from suicide prevention organizations, this statement is a thunderclap that could (I hope) stiffen the backs of the rest of the sector into active opposition to all suicides, not just some.

The Secret MAiD Case That Canada Hoped You’d Never See

This article was published by Kelsi Sheren on her substack on December 2, 2025.

These Leaked Documents Reveal the Plot.

By Kelsi Sheren

Canada keeps insisting MAiD is “carefully regulated,” a “last resort,” and “only for Canadians who truly qualify.”

That story is dead and I’m going to show you how bad this really is.

A Freedom of Information release buried in 269 pages of bureaucratic emails shows something the government never expected anyone to see:

Three elected officials actively tried to secure an MSP health number for a woman who was not a resident, not a citizen, and not eligible under federal law… so she could be euthanized.

This wasn’t a misunderstanding. This wasn’t a clerical error. This was an attempt to turn Canada into a destination for state-sanctioned death.

Let’s walk through exactly what they did. The FOI shows that in July 2021 ->

Elizabeth May, Member of Parliament and then-leader of the federal Green Party

Adam Olsen, BC Green Party MLA

Murray Rankin, BC NDP MLA and Minister of Indigenous Relations.

…each wrote letters of political support for a woman name redacted who was not a permanent resident, not a citizen, had no permit, had no visa pathway to MSP, and had lived in Canada only as a “visitor” since 1990/91.

In other words: no legal eligibility for healthcare.

The politicians knew that. The Ministry knew that. And still they pushed hard. Thinking none of this would ever see daylight.

Today is that day. The purpose behind all this pressure? To get her a Personal Health Number so she could access MAiD. Not medical treatment. Not emergency care. Not residency.

Just euthanasia. Death by a needle and a paralytic.

This is not “compassion.” This is a government machine being bent to facilitate death tourism and here’s the thing: the ministry knew exactly what was happening.

Internal emails make it painfully clear that MAiD federally requires eligibility for public healthcare. The Ministry repeats it like a warning flare: “Visitors to Canada are not eligible for medical assistance in dying.”

Another official spells it out: “The client cannot qualify for MSP without a foundation document (permit, PR, citizenship).”

And the most stark line in the entire FOI: MSP should only be granted “on compassionate grounds so that she can access MAiD.”

There’s no ambiguity. No euphemism. No plausible deniability.

The only reason these politicians wanted MSP issued was to enable a foreign national to be euthanized by the Canadian state. MAiD tourism wasn’t a side effect it was the goal the entire damn time.

This wasn’t an attempt to help someone become a resident. No visa support. No PR application. No documentation pathway. The letters from May, Olsen, and Rankin all revolve around one mission: Get this woman a PHN so she can be killed under MAiD.

In one email, staff even warned: “Unless these provide new PR or citizenship status they unfortunately don’t address the factors.”

Translated: These politicians are trying to do something we legally can’t do. But the pressure kept coming anyway. And for what it’s worth?

This was escalated as “High Importance.” The Ministry scheduled a call with the client for July 23rd at 11:00 am a MAiD-related call.

They were ready to move fast. If this case has succeeded, Canada will have secretly created a new category of MAiD eligibility. Anyone from anywhere in the world can fly here and apply for state-sanctioned death as long as a sympathetic politician writes a letter.

No residency. No citizenship. No ties to Canada.

Just an express lane to death. And the public? Never consulted. Never informed.
Never asked whether they wanted their country turned into the world’s suicide embassy.

And here’s the uncomfortable reality. We don’t know for sure if the MAiD was carried out but if I’m betting, I’m betting it did.

Elizabeth May is not a fringe actor.
Adam Olsen is not a fringe actor.
Murray Rankin is not a fringe actor.

These are leaders in the Green Party and NDP two parties that aggressively pushed MAiD expansion.

Now we know what “expansion” meant behind closed doors.
They were willing to extend MAiD to non-Canadians in secret.

Ask yourself this, why are Canadian politicians working harder to help a non-citizen die…than they work to help Canadians live?

Why is it easier to get a politician’s support for euthanasia than for housing, healthcare, mental health treatment, or veterans’ support? Why did no one in government blow the whistle?

And what other cases like this exist that we haven’t seen? Where there’s smoke, there’s fire and now I’m digging. Deep.

MAiD was sold as dignity. It was sold as mercy. It was sold as a humane option for extreme cases. Those were lies, all of them. The mask has slipped.

When elected officials are trying to secure taxpayer-funded infrastructure to euthanize foreign nationals who aren’t even living here legally, the system is no longer compassionate.

It is industrial. It is bureaucratic. It is dehumanized. And it is out of control.

The FOI doesn’t show a “mistake.” It shows a machine doing exactly what it was built to do. Normalize death as a solution.

Not for Canadians alone. For anyone. Welcome to MAiD tourism. And it’s already started. The FOI documents don’t just reveal a single rogue letter. They reveal a coordinated political push involving:

A sitting federal MP (Elizabeth May) A BC MLA (Adam Olsen) A BC cabinet minister (Hon. Murray Rankin)

All acting within a 48-hour window. All applying pressure. All requesting a provincial health number for a woman who was not a Canadian resident, not a citizen, and not eligible for MAiD under federal law.

These were not bureaucratic mistakes. These were political interventions and here is what accountability looks like the bare minimum any functioning democracy should expect.

Murray Rankin: The Minister Who Tried to Influence MAiD Eligibility

Rankin’s involvement carries the greatest weight. He wasn’t simply an MLA with opinions he was a sitting cabinet minister writing on official Legislative Assembly letterhead, invoking his authority as:

“Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.”

His letter expresses “unqualified support” for granting an emergency MSP number to the applicant. He knew she was not a resident, not eligible, not covered — and still pushed the Health Minister to make it happen. The purpose is self-evident from the internal emails:

Grant MSP → Enable MAiD.

A cabinet minister trying to steer a non-resident into state-sanctioned euthanasia is a structural failure that demands a structural consequence.

What should happen next is simple. A formal ministerial conduct investigation
Assess misuse of authority, inappropriate intervention, and violation of health-policy boundaries. Full public disclosure of his involvement. Who asked him to intervene? Did he coordinate with May or Olsen? What did he know about the MAiD intent? Permanent disqualification from public office if misconduct is confirmed A minister who tries to influence eligibility for state-administered death especially for a foreign national has forfeited public trust.

Adam Olsen: The MLA Who Pushed for “Compassionate” MSP to Enable MAiD

Olsen’s letter asked for MSP on “compassionate grounds,” despite full knowledge that the woman had no citizenship, no permanent residency, no legal eligibility, no basis for MSP.

He even invoked Indigenous identity in support of the request adding ethical weight to an already reckless intervention.

What should happen next is a retroactive ethics review. His actions must be formally evaluated by BC’s legislative standards office. A public explanation. He must explain why he intervened and whether the effort was coordinated with May and Rankin. Accountability within the BC Green Party. The party must clarify whether this conduct aligns with their values or if they repudiate it.

Elizabeth May: The Sitting MP Who Still Holds Power. May is the only one still in elected office. Her letter acknowledges the applicant is not a permanent resident, not eligible for MSP, and would not qualify under normal circumstances.

Yet she still pushed for temporary MSP specifically to enable MAiD. A federal MP attempting to influence provincial health systems to euthanize a foreign national is not compassion. It is a misuse of political influence for a purpose no Canadian voted for.

What should happen at a bare minimum, FIRED. Immediate investigation by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. This is textbook misuse of office. Mandatory parliamentary hearing She must publicly answer:
– Why she intervened
– What she understood about the MAiD eligibility rules
– Whether this was coordinated
– Whether she has done this before

Potential censure or resignation depending on findings. When the issue is life and death, consequences must match the stakes.

Three Politicians. Forty-Eight Hours. One Objective.

This was not a coincidence. This was not random empathy. This was not a compassionate outlier.

This was a coordinated attempt by three elected officials municipal, provincial, and federal to pressure a healthcare system to euthanize a foreign national who did not qualify under any law.

You cannot spin your way out of that. You cannot redact your way out of that and you cannot pretend Canadians consented to becoming a destination for state-administered death.

This is what MUST HAPPEN NEXT.

Investigations. Hearings. Public accountability. Consequences.

Because if a government is willing to kill someone outside the system, it has already abandoned the idea of protecting the people within it.

KELSI SHEREN

When her grandmother died by euthanasia, it impacted her in ways she couldn't imagine.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The latest short film from Dying to Meet You features Lovanie, a young woman who has been greatly impacted by her grandmother's death by euthanasia.

Lovanie lost her grandmother to euthanasia. Her story is similar to many of the stories that we receive. 

Watch and share Lovanie's story (Link).

Lovanie explains that her grandmothers death was really hard on her as she has also struggled with mental health in the past few years.

Lovanie fears that her grandmothers euthanasia death will encourage other family members to also die by euthanasia in the future.

Lovanie expresses that her grandmothers dignity would have been achieved by staying with her family and to realize how much her family loved and cared for her willingly, and not as a burden.

Lovanie asks, how do you explain to your kids?

Lovanie expresses that you can't remain strong all of the time. You need help for that. We need people around us. You need to learn to help others and be helped.

Lovanie explains that the euthanasia decision is significant because it ends everything. There is no, I made a bad mistake but I can keep living. Euthanasia robs us of hope and strength. Death does not need to be sudden or chemically induced.

The lesson for Lovanie is that there is always another road, there is always another way. Her grandmothers death is a puzzle for Lovanie who said: I don't think I will ever figure it out in this life.

Watch and share Lovanie's story (Link).

Swiss Assisted Suicide Clinic Founder Died By Assisted Suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Minelli outside Dignitas

Emily Crane reported for the New York Post that Ludwig Minelli, the founder of the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland died by assisted suicide on November 29, 2025.

Minelli (93), was first a journalist and then a "human rights lawyer." Minelli had originally been an advisor to the Exit assisted suicide group but left Exit and founded Dignitas in 1998 because he wanted to be more strident.

Crane reported that:

Dignitas, which says it has strict guidelines for accepting candidates, has helped roughly 4,000 people in Switzerland and across the world end their lives, according to the group.

Lake Zurich urns.

Minelli was controversial for many reasons. Wikipedia reported that:

In a 2010 interview with The Atlantic magazine, Minelli admitted to depositing cremation urns containing the ashes of Dignitas members at Lake Zurich. A 2018 court case against Minelli focused on the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman who had bequeathed Dignitas 100,000 Swiss francs in her will. The organization had found the woman a fourth doctor who would prescribe drugs for assisted suicide after three doctors previously declined her request and the case accused him of profiteering from his clients.

Soraya Wernli

Soraya Wernli, a former employee of Dignitas, was featured in a Daily Mail article in February 2009 accusing Minelli of being obsessed with profit and not with dignity. Wernli claimed, in the Daily Mail article that:

‘just a few days into the job, he (Minelli) asked me to sort through the stuff in these plastic bin liners clogging the stairs.’ Minelli told her to ‘empty the sacks onto a long table ... and sort through everything.

In the sacks Wernli found - Mobile phones, handbags, ladies’ tights, shoes, spectacles, money, purses, wallets, jewels, and more.

Minelli had his “patients” sign forms saying the possessions were now the property of Dignitas. He then sold everything to pawn shops and second-hand shops.

Wernli, who was a nurse and a former care worker for elderly people worked for the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Zurich for 2½ years. During that time she came to believe that Dignitas was less about ethical euthanasia for the terminally ill and more of a money-making machine for Minelli.

The interview in The Atlantic Magazine in February 2010 also featured Soraya Wernli, who accused Minelli of ethical and financial improprieties and a lack of concern for vulnerable people.

More Lake Zurich urns

Minelli confirmed in The Atlantic interview that we was dumping the remains of people who died by assisted suicide in Lake Zurich. The article stated:

Minelli said he stores the urns until he has enough of them to load into his car. He then drives, usually at night, to a quiet spot on Lake Zurich, and tosses the remains into the water. Minelli insists that these burials are harmless but last year he was warned by Zurich’s water authority after they received complaints of human bone fragments washing up on shore.

BBC reporter, Imogen Foulkes published an investigative report on July 2, 2010 into Minelli and Dignitas. Foulkes reported:

Urns in Lake Zurich

The discovery of dozens of urns containing human ashes in Lake Zurich has served to focus attention once again on just what exactly assisted suicide groups are allowed to do.

It remains unclear who put the urns into the lake but there have been claims that Dignitas may have been involved: all the urns bore the label of the crematorium used by the organisation.

One German woman has come forward to say her stepmother's ashes were put in the lake by Dignitas, despite her wish to be buried next to her husband.

Foulkes commented on the Dignitas finances:

Dignitas has helped more than 1,000 people die in the past 12 years, (July 2010 report) many of them foreigners who come to Switzerland precisely because their own countries do not permit assisted suicide, Mr Minelli explained.

Each individual pays an initial membership fee, typically around $200 (£133), followed by annual membership fees of $80 (£53). Further fees for the consultation and the assisted suicide itself run to around $7,000 (£4,700).

When further asked about finances Mr Minelli refused to discuss the organisation's finances. Minelli stated:

"This is a private organisation," he explained. "Only the active members have a right to know the facts, and the public has no right at all. We are not working with public money, so there is no reason for us to answer questions."

Pietro D'Amico

In June 2013 I published an article about Pietro D’Amico, a 62-year-old magistrate from Calabria in Southern Italy, in who died by assisted suicide in April, 2013 after D'Amico received a wrong diagnosis. An article published in Switzerland's The Local, stated:

The father-of-one took the decision after a wrong diagnosis from Italian and Swiss doctors, his family's lawyer Michele Roccisano told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

An autopsy carried out by the University of Basel’s Institute of Forensic Medicine found that D’Amico was not suffering from a life-threatening illness at the time of his death.

Roccisano has called on the Italian and Swiss authorities to examine D’Amico’s medical records to determine what went wrong.

In July 2013, a Swiss regional court found Dr. Philippe Freiburghaus “crossed the line” by assisting a suicide without obtaining a diagnosis.

On April 23, 2014, Dr Freiburghaus was acquitted for assisting a suicide without a diagnosis. The reasons for the acquittal were not made public.

Oriella Cazzanello

In February, 2014 the Daily Mail reported on Oriella Cazzanello, 85, who travelled to the assisted suicide clinic in Basel, Switzerland, where she paid €10,000 for an assisted suicide because she was unhappy about losing her looks. The article stated:

Cazzanello, who was in good mental and physical health, left her home in Arzignano, near Vicenza in northern Italy, without telling her relatives where she was going.

Her family, who had reported her to the police as missing, only learned of her death after they received her ashes and death certificate from the clinic.

Coffin leaving Dignitas

In 2017 Swissinfo.ch reported that the Swiss high court upheld the requirement that Dignitas must dispose all remains in cemeteries. Swissinfo.ch reported:

The grisly find in 2010 prompted the local authorities to draft new regulations five years later that outlawed the professional disposal of human remains in the canton. Dignitas fought the order, arguing that it represented an unfair restriction of trade. But both the Administrative Court and now the Supreme Court have sided with the canton.

The discovery of 67 urns in Lake Zurich, near to a Dignitas clinic, made international headlines seven years ago. The human remains were found by divers from the lake rescue service who were looking for a missing sunshade. 

A former Dignitas employee told the media that it was common to dump urns in the lake and estimated there to be around 300 in the watery grave. Dignitas denied the claims and Zurich prosecutors dropped a criminal probe after being unable to prove who had put the urns in the lake.

In May 2018 Minelli was charged with profiteering. 

Dignitas

There have been many controversial stories and deaths related to the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic. Dignitas claims to have assisted the suicides of more than 4000 people with the majority being "suicide tourists."

I will remembered Minelli as a serial killer, who primarily killed people with disabilities. Minelli took money from people with a death wish and killed them. He wasn't concerned about compassion, he was concerned with profit and killing.

Health Canada 2024 report indicates that 16,499 people died by euthanasia.

Euthanasia deaths increased by almost 7% representing 5.1% of all deaths.
Euthanasia deaths for people who are not terminally ill increased by 17%.

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Health Canada finally released their Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada on November 28, 2025. As slow as Health Canada was to release the report, last year's report was released on December 11, 2024.

For the purpose of this article I will refer to it as the 2024 report.

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

From legalization until December 31, 2024 there were 76,475 MAiD deaths in Canada. Considering that it is now at the end of November 2025, it is likely that there have been at least 92,000 MAiD (euthanasia) deaths in Canada since legalization.

The 2023 report indicated that there were 15,343 euthanasia deaths. The 2024 report stated that there were 15,427 euthanasia deaths in 2023, an increase of 84 deaths. Since the 2023 report was published in December, 2024, it is hard to understand a difference of 84 deaths.

On February 18, 2025, I predicted, based on the Ontario, Québec and Alberta euthanasia data, that there were likely 16,500 euthanasia deaths in 2024. My February, 2025 estimate was out by 1 death.

Quebec has the highest number of euthanasia deaths.

The 2024 report indicated that Québec had the highest number of euthanasia deaths.

According to the 2024 report: Quebec had 5,998 deaths, Ontario had 4,944, British Columbia had 2,997 deaths, Alberta had 1,117 deaths, Nova Scotia had 445 deaths, Saskatchewan had 341 deaths, New Brunswick had 283 deaths, Manitoba had 186 deaths, Newfoundland had 108 deaths, PEI had 57 deaths and the Yukon Territory had 14 deaths.

It is interesting that the Quebec government reported that there were 6058 euthanasia deaths in 2024 and the BC government reported that there were 3000. I wonder why there is a discrepancy between the provincial and federal data?

The increase in Track 2 euthanasia deaths is very concerning. 

The total number of 2024 Canadian euthanasia deaths increased by 6.9%, while the total number of Track 2 euthanasia deaths increased by 17% representing 4.4% of all euthanasia deaths.

Track 2 refers to euthanasia deaths of people who do not have a terminal condition. To qualify for a Track 2 death, the person would need to have, among other qualifications, "a grievous and irremediable medical condition" which is not defined in the law.

According to the 2024 report there were 224 Track 2 deaths in 2021, 469 Track 2 deaths in 2022, 625 Track 2 deaths in 2023 and 732 in 2024.

It is important to note that people who die by euthanasia based on a Track 2 approval tend to be younger, are more likely to be women, and far more likely to be living with a disability.

Reasons for euthanasia.

It is assumed that pain and suffering is the primary reason why people seek to be killed by euthanasia. The 2024 report indicates that inadequate pain control or concern about it was the sixth most common reason for seeking to be killed.

According to the 2024 report:

• Loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities: Track 1 - 95.1%, Track 2 - 97.5;
• Loss of ability to perform to perform activities of daily living: Track 1 - 85.4%, Track 2 - 85.1%;
• Loss of Independence: Track 1 - 75.4%, Track 2 - 78.7%;
• Loss of Dignity: Track 1 - 63.5%, Track 2 - 73.9%;
• Emotional distress, anxiety, fear, existential suffering: Track 1 - 57.9%, Track 2 - 63.3%

Euthanasia and Disability

The 2024 report shows a clear connection between disability and death by euthanasia. In 2024, 31.6% (4858) of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths was a person with a disability and 61.5% (437) of the Track 2 euthanasia deaths was a person with a disability.

I believe that euthanasia based on disability is under-reported. Many people seek a euthanasia death based on disability related conditions but the person does not consider themselves to have a disability. When considering the 5 main reasons for someone seeking euthanasia, they are all related, in some way, to disability.

The Quebec data provides further evidence that euthanasia based on disability is under-reported. The 2024 report states that in Quebec only 12% of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths and 49.6% of the Track 2 euthanasia deaths were people with disabilities. Clearly there is a preference in Quebec to not claim that the person who dies by euthanasia is disabled.

People with disabilities should be very concerned about Track 2 euthanasia deaths. 61.5% of Track 2 euthanasia deaths (people who are not terminally ill) self-identified as being disabled.

People with disabilities were more likely to be younger with mobility issues being listed as the primary concern. It is not stated, but clear that Track 2 euthanasia deaths are primarily oriented to people with disabilities.

People with disabilities were also far more likely to have the reason for their death listed as "other." I have stated, several times, my concern with the "other category." People with disabilities who die under Track 1 are 46.1% of the time categorized as "other" and Track 2 are 56.1% categorized as "other."

The 2024 report states that: Examples of "other" conditions include organ failure, diabetes, frailty, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain and mental disorders.

It should also not surprise anyone that people who die by Track 2 euthanasia are more likely to be poor, live in a poor neighbourhood or institution and receive disability support services than people who die by Track 1 euthanasia.

Euthanasia and Loneliness.

The 2024 report attempts to explain away the issues of loneliness and isolation but according to the 2024 report, loneliness and isolation was related to 21.9% of Track 1 euthanasia deaths and 44.7% of Track 2 euthanasia deaths. Based on the 2024 report there were at least 3,800 people who listed loneliness and isolation as a primary reason for being killed.

As in previous years I believe that there were more than 3,800 people who wanted to be killed based on loneliness and isolation. People will state that their primary reason is related to their medical condition, but loneliness, isolation and mental health related conditions are often driving them to seek death while their medical condition is why they were approved to be killed.

It is also significant that 31.4% of those who died by Track 2 euthanasia were receiving mental health, social support professional services as compared to 9.4% of the Track 1 euthanasia deaths.

Considering the issue of euthanasia based on mental health, the data clearly indicates that mental health is a primary reason for euthanasia and very prevalent with relation to Track 2 deaths. This is not surprising since Track 2 deaths are people who are not terminally ill.

Currently the law would require that euthanasia based on mental illness would require the person to have another medical condition.

The Canadian parliament are currently debating Private Members Bill C-218, a bill that would reverse prevent the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness in Canada. We urge our supporters to do all that they can to support Bill C-218 (Article Link).

Over the next few weeks we will provide further analysis of the 2024 report.

Game of Thrones actress opposes assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sophia Turner

People Magazine, which has continuously promoted the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide, offered neutrality in the resent article by Vanessa Etienne that was published on November 27.

Etienne reported that Sophie Turner, the 29-year-old Game of Thrones alum signed an open letter to the U.K. House of Lords opposing the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would allow adults in the U.K. to be killed by their doctor upon request.

The Open Letter which was published on November 18 by the Eat Breathe Thrive Foundation an organization that changes the lives of people who struggle with eating disorders.

The Open Letter that was signed by Sophie Turner and many more states:

November 18, 2025

Dear Members of the House of Lords,

We are writing to express deep concern about the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and the serious risk it poses to people with eating disorders.

If passed, this bill could make individuals with eating disorders eligible for assisted death at times when they are unable to access or accept treatment. Many young people who could recover with effective care might instead receive lethal medication during a period of despair.

In jurisdictions where assisted death is legal, women with eating disorders have already died under laws intended only for those who are terminally ill. One such woman was Jessica, a thirty-six-year-old from Colorado who lived with anorexia and depression. When she was unable to increase her nutritional intake, her doctor concluded that her illness was irreversible and incurable, and prescribed medication to end her life. Jessica died after taking the drugs. According to her family, she repeatedly said she did not want to die but could not continue living as she was.

These were not individuals who were inevitably dying, but individuals whose illnesses had become life-threatening in the absence of effective treatment. The bill’s definition of “terminally ill,” like that used in Colorado, could be interpreted to include people with eating disorders who develop severe physical complications from starvation, purging, or restricting insulin. In a health system already stretched beyond capacity, someone who is severely ill and ambivalent about treatment could be assessed as eligible for assisted death.

Some have argued that people with eating disorders would not be eligible because they lack capacity. This reflects a misunderstanding of capacity and the nature of these illnesses. People with eating disorders are often coherent and capable of making decisions unrelated to nutrition, even when seriously ill. Evidence from other countries shows that in sixty documented cases where people with eating disorders died by assisted death, doctors found they had capacity to make that decision.

Amendments may lessen the risk for people with eating disorders but cannot remove it entirely. The deeper problem lies within the healthcare system itself. Decades of underinvestment, limited research, and poor coordination have left services overstretched and fragmented. Families are waiting months, sometimes years, for treatment while the illness progresses to more severe, complex, and life-threatening stages.

The Eating Disorders APPG’s most recent report has called for a confidential inquiry into eating disorder deaths to identify and address failings that contribute to preventable deaths. That recommendation remains unfulfilled.

No eating disorder expert was invited to give evidence to the Select Committee, despite repeated warnings from charities, campaigners, families, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists that the bill, as drafted, places this group at risk.

We urge you to pause and ensure that legislation intended to bring compassion to those facing terminal illness does not end the lives of those who could still recover.

Previous articles on Eating Disorders:

• As an Anorexic I would have longed for an assisted death (Link).
• Landmark study: Assisted death for eating disorders (Link).
• At least 60 people with eating disorders euthanized or assisted in suicide since 2012 (Link).
• ANAD clarifies that Anorexia Nervosa is not a terminal condition (Link)
• When I was Anorexic I would have chosen assisted suicide (Link).
• Psychiatrist: Anorexia does not justify Aid in Dying (Link).
• Anorexia is not a terminal condition (Link).