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.

Canadian doctor considers euthanasia the best work she has done.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

British actress, comedian and disability rights activist, Liz Carr, produced a BBC documentary titled - Better off Dead? that was first aired on May 14. Carr is best known for her role as Clarissa Mullery on the BBC series Silent Witness.

One of the scenes in the Better off Dead? documentary features Carr interviewing Canadian euthanasia doctor, Ellen Wiebe. (Link to the scene)

David Kraydon wrote an article that was published in The Post Millennial on October 9 concerning Carr's documentary. Carr asks her about euthanasia and Wiebe responds:

“I love my job. You know, I always loved being a doctor and I delivered over a thousand babies, and I took care of families, but this is the very best work I've ever done in the last seven years. And people ask me why? And I think, well, doctors like grateful patients, and nobody's more grateful than my patients now and their families.”

Ellen Wiebe laughing

Carr wonders if Wiebe is concerned that Canada’s euthanasia program will go too far. Kraydon writes that Wiebe shuts down that debate by stating:

“What you're saying is to protect what you consider vulnerable people. You are condemning others to unbearable suffering, unbearable suffering, and I am so glad, so glad that I'm Canadian and that we have this law so that people can choose that or not choose that, but to say that somebody has to suffer like that is simply cruel,”

Better off Dead? viewers were shocked when Wiebe giggled while talking about euthanasia.

Professor Christopher Lyon told National Post writer Sharon Kirkey that:

“Some providers have counts in the hundreds — this isn’t normal, for any occupation,” he said. “Even members of the military at war do not typically kill that frequently. I think that’s a question that we’ve not really ever asked.”

Lyon recently published an article concerning health-care serial killers and Canada's euthanasia law.

Ellen Wiebe may be Canada's most prolific euthanasia doctor having killed hundreds. 

Liz Carr's Better off Dead? is available for you to watch on youtube (youtube link).

Letter opposing UK assisted suicide bill.

People who oppose assisted suicide in the UK need to write letters to their representatives. 

Letter from Ann Farmer to UK political representatives.

I am writing to you once again regarding news reports about the proposed Private Members’ Bill submitted by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater to legalise ‘assisted dying’, aka assisted suicide. 

As a disabled person I am very concerned about this Bill, not only for myself but for vulnerable groups, particularly the elderly, sick and disabled, especially given severe pressure on the NHS, which Sir Keir Starmer has referred to as ‘broken’, as well as a recent Marie Curie report exposing significant shortcomings in palliative and end-of-life care in this country. 

The risks of legalizing assisted suicide were highlighted by the actor and disability rights campaigner Liz Carr in her recent BBC One documentary ‘Better Off Dead?’ (youtube link) which I encourage you to watch if you have not already done so. It warns of the dangers of such legislation for the disabled and poor, dangers highlighted in a recent article by Sir Stephen Timms MP.  Such warnings are based on the reality in countries that have legalized ‘assisted dying’, only to see a steady relaxation of the law; indeed, it is now clear that the allegedly strict safeguards accompanying such laws are considered necessary to calm public fears, enabling the passage of the law, which is then broadened in scope.

Furthermore, despite campaigners’ claims that ‘assisted dying’ enjoys public support, a recent opinion poll found that this issue ranked 22nd out of a list of 23 possible priorities for the new Government. 

The same poll also highlighted public concerns over the practicalities of legalizing assisted suicide, with over half of respondents revealing fears that there are too many complicating factors to make assisted suicide a practical and safe option.

Although a recent ‘Citizens’ Jury’ supported legalising assisted suicide, doubts were cast on the impartiality of the Jury’s findings after revelations that Danielle Hamm, the Director of the organisation commissioning the project, was previously the head of ‘Compassion in Dying’, sister charity to assisted suicide pressure group Dignity in Dying. In addition, the project was funded by a charity that had previously given a significant grant “towards work on legalising assisted dying”, while a majority of Jury members seem to have held settled views in support of legalising euthanasia as well as assisted suicide, with more members also favouring ‘assisted dying’ for under-18s and the non-terminally ill.

Clearly, Citizens’ Juries do not reliably reflect public opinion.  In contrast, whenever Parliament has studied these issues in depth, objectively considering the risks, it has decisively rejected legalization, as with the last such Bill in 2015, when more Labour MPs and more Conservative MPs voted against legalization than in favour, while only three Liberal Democrat MPs supported it.

I would be grateful for your reassurance that you will oppose rushing through such dangerous and complex legislation into law and will do whatever you can to ensure Parliament focuses instead on measures to provide authentic end-of-life care to all who need it.

Thank you for your consideration and for all your efforts, and I look forward to receiving your response.

Yours sincerely, 

Ann Farmer
Woodford Green
Essex IG8 7NQ.

Better off Dead documentary is available to be viewed on youtube

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Liz Carr is an actress, comedian and disability rights activist, who produced a documentary titled - Better off Dead? that was aired on BBC1 on May 14. Carr may be best known for her role as Clarissa Mullery on the BBC series Silent Witness.

Liz Carr's Better off Dead? is available for you to watch on youtube (youtube link).

Anna Moore who wrote an article for the Guardian explains Better off Dead?

Better Off Dead? takes a deep dive into assisted dying and disability. Carr believes the two can’t be separated. It’s disturbing, of course, but also life-affirming and darkly funny, which isn’t surprising; Carr was a standup comic for years. In the opening shots, she and her disabled friends remember the times they have been told they would be better off dead. One, Jamie Hale, has even had someone offer to kill him. (“And this wasn’t someone I was particularly close to,” he says.)

The film is also intensely personal. Carr looks back at her childhood and the impact of having her life turned upside down by a rare autoimmune condition at seven. It’s something she has been reluctant to share in the past. “Our perception of disability is that it’s the greatest tragedy to befall you and I don’t want to compound that,” she says. “But I did want to show that I do know how your life changes so hugely when you join that camp – the most unsexy, unfun, unglamorous group. Who’d want that?”

One of the people that Carr interviews in her film was Dr Ellen Wiebe, Canada's most prolific euthanasia doctor. 

Wiebe told Carr that nobody is more grateful than the patients that she has killed. Emira Tanatarova reported in the Daily Mail on May 15 on some of the comments from the BBC documentary viewers:

Enjoying her job a little too much I felt,' one wrote.

'She was extremely scary and oddly cheerful,' another added. 'But it might have been defensiveness which made her so very strange indeed.'

'Her eagerness and her excitement over grateful patients was unsettling,' one poster penned.

'Really eerie,' one comment read. 'Her job should bring feelings of solemnity, profoundness, sadness... anything but the weird euphoric state she seems to be in.'

Previous articles about Liz Carr:

• Better off Dead? documentary to be aired on BBC1 on May 14 (Link).
  
• Laws against assisted suicide provide equal protection (Link).
• Liz Carr address to Victoria Australia parliament on assisted suicide (Link).
• Disability activists say no to euthanasia bill (Link).

Donna Duncan was fast-tracked for euthanasia even though she wasn't terminally ill

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Liz Carr is an actress, comedian and disability rights activist produced a documentary titled; Better off Dead? that was aired on May 14 by BBC1.

Alicia Duncan

In the documentary, Carr interviewed Alicia Duncan, the daughter of Donna Duncan, who died by euthanasia in October 2021

Alicia explains that her mother was fast-tracked for euthanasia after experiencing depression and mental issues related to a concussion acquired in a car accident.

Elmira Tanatarova reporting for the Daily Mail on May 15, 2024 writes:

The daughter of a Canadian woman who was 'fast tracked' for euthanasia after she 'starved herself' - because she was 'depressed' following car accident complications - broke down in tears as she recounted being given 48-hours' notice that her mother was going to die.

Alicia Duncan spoke to Liz Carr for Tuesday night's BBC documentary, Better Off Dead?

Donna Duncan, 61, from Abbotsford, was involved in a minor car accident, resulting in concussion. Her health declined in the months that followed, but the exact cause remained a mystery.

However, she was 'not terminal', nor was she 'facing imminent death' - but rather was suffering from mental health issues, Alicia stressed.

Alicia Duncan explains that her mother was experiencing mental health problems. Tanatarova reports:

'What we we didn't know was that she was restricting her diet. She would say that it would hurt to eat solid foods so she was pureeing everything, having soups.'

Alicia also explained how her and her sister's worries for Donna escalated.

'She was very paranoid, she worried that if she left the house, she might be shot by a sniper at any moment.

'And I think that's when we really started becoming extremely concerned that this might be a mental health issue.'

She said the behaviour was 'completely uncharacteristic' of her mother, who 'was a highly educated psychiatric nurse'.

Alicia and her sister were shocked when learning that their mother was approved to be killed. Tanatarova reports:

Alicia tearfully revealed how little time she was given to process her mother's signing up for Canada's controversial euthanasia programme - called MAiD.

'I received a text message from my mom's common law partner he wanted us to know that my mom was in the beginning stages of looking into MAiD,' she told the documentary.

'We just thought there was no way - there was no way - she would be approved.

They were given a 48 hour notice for her death

'And my sister went to go see her and asked, "how did the assessment go". And she said "do you want to know". And my sister said yes, and she said "I've been approved".

'So we had less than 48 hours' notice that my mom was going to die.'

Alicia and her sister unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the death:

Donna was approved for track one of MAiD - the 'fast track' - on the grounds that her condition was terminal.

She and her sister managed to then 'gather enough evidence to have Donna taken into custody under the Mental Health Act'. 

Alicia 'pleaded with a doctor' because 'her mom was a psychiatric nurse who knew all of the right things to say'.

'At the end of the 48 hour hold they did another assessment,' she continued. 'We received a text message from my mom's partner that evening that my mom was dead and her body had been taken to a crematorium.'

Alicia told Tanatarova that her mother wasn't terminally ill and therefore didn't qualify under "track 1" but since she had stopped eating and drinking, she was immediately deemed to be terminally ill. Tanatarova then reports on the irregularity in her mother's death.

Alicia said that her mother had been approved by the head of the MAiD programme and a nurse practitioner.

'The second assessment, it was done over the phone,' she added. 'He never saw my mom. 

'And her general practitioner, who had been her GP for 20 years, would not approve her to die.'

Tanatarova reports that Alicia and her sister Christie launched an investigation into their mother's death that concluded without any arrests.

It is impossible for medical practitioners in Canada to be prosecuted for euthanasia since the law says that the medical practitioner only has be "of the opinion" that you fit the criteria of the law.

The Canadian law is not designed with effective oversight, as long as two doctors or nurse practitioners agree that a person qualifies under the law, then they qualify, even if many doctors and nurse practitioners say they do not qualify.

Previous articles about Liz Carr:

• Canadian euthanasia doctor giggles about killing (Link).
• Liz Carr: I'm fighting for the right to live (Link).
• Better off Dead? documentary to be aired on BBC1 on May 14 (Link).
  
• Laws against assisted suicide provide equal protection (Link).
• Liz Carr address to Victoria Australia parliament on assisted suicide (Link).
• Disability activists say no to euthanasia bill (Link).

Better off Dead? documentary to be aired on BBC1 on May 14.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Liz Carr

Liz Carr, who is an actress, comedian and disability rights activist, produced a documentary that she titled Better off Dead? that will be airing on BBC1 on Tuesday May 14 at 9 pm (UK). Carr may be best known for her role as Clarissa Mullery on the BBC series Silent Witness.

John Pring interviewed Carr for Disability News Service for an article that was published on May 9, 2024. Pring begins with Carr telling him how frighting the concept of legalizing assisted suicide is for people with disabilities, within the concept of the failing National Health Service (UK):

Legalising assisted suicide, she said, would be even more dangerous at a time when “we are absolutely removing our welfare state, and we are dismantling our incredible NHS”.

Last week, at a protest outside the Houses of Parliament, she told DNS she was terrified by the government’s latest proposals to cut spending on personal independence payment.

She said: “I don’t even think the other side will make the connection over how terrifying that feels to disabled people yet again.

“We know disabled people have killed themselves because of DWP reforms in the past.

Carr speaks about her experience with interviewing Amir Farsoud, a Canadian with disabilities who sought euthanasia based on fears of homelessness. Pring reports:

“That’s what terrifies me: the kind of thing happening in Canada where people for socio-economic reasons are choosing to end their lives through euthanasia.”

In Canada, she interviewed Amir Farsoud, a disabled man from Ontario, who requested an assisted suicide because his landlord was planning to sell off his apartment building, and he was terrified at the prospect of being left homeless on the freezing streets.

He eventually changed his mind about seeking an assisted suicide after a crowd-funding effort raised tens of thousands of dollars to support him.

Farsoud told Carr that it was easier and quicker in Canada to apply for medical assistance in dying (assisted suicide) than disability benefits.

Carr comments on Keir Starmer, the leader of Britains Labour party, who is pro-euthanasia and currently leading in the polls, if an election were to happen:

She said: “I’ve always been a little bit worried about Starmer getting in power, because he introduced the guidelines [on prosecuting cases of assisted suicide, in 2010] when he was director of public prosecutions.

“I’ve known he’s been pro, we all have, for over 10 years.”

She said this was “quite frightening” and “makes it difficult for voters like me to know what to do for the next election”.

Asked if she had a message for Starmer, she said: “I would say, please watch the documentary.

Carr, who is an athiest, said that people who are concerned about the legalization of assisted suicide shouldn't sideline the opposition because they are marginalized or religious because there are many people who are concerned about legalizing assisted suicide.

Pring then spoke to Carr about her meeting with Canadian euthanasia doctor Ellen Wiebe:

She also spoke of the “chilling” attitude of Canadian doctor Dr Ellen Wiebe – who is herself disabled – who has provided assisted suicide to hundreds of Canadians since it was legalised and is shown in the documentary telling Carr she was “so glad, so glad” that they had medical assistance in dying laws in Canada.

She told her: “I love my job. This is the very best work I have ever done.”

Wiebe is also shown saying that she had never had so many grateful patients, which Carr said was “one of the most terrifying things in the documentary”.

She said: “When she says that doctors like grateful patients, that is chilling to me.

“And as somebody that’s had a lot of involvement with, you know, medics, that really frightens me.”

Pring then reported on Carr's message at a preview event for the documentary:

“If we ask the question, ‘Do you want to stop dying people’s suffering?’ everybody has to say yes to that, or you’re a psychopath.

“We all, I believe, want everyone to have a good death, so the answer is how we do that.

“And the only difference between me and [those supporting legalisation] is how you do that. That’s the only difference.

“I don’t want people to suffer. I want people to have a good death. I just think people will suffer more if we introduce assisted suicide.”

Carr commented on the media reports that indicate that legalizing assisted suicide is inevitable. Pring reports:

she said there was “nothing inevitable about it, nothing at all… I still think it’s time for a conversation and it’s not inevitable.”

Carr said she did not understand why those fighting for legalisation did not put their resources into pushing for improved healthcare and palliative care, or “into giving people choice and control in their lives”.

She said: “Because choice isn’t choice when you’ve got no choice. It absolutely isn’t.

“And I meet people in my life who are suffering absolutely because they do not have choices in their life.”

Pring reports that Carr produced the documentary to get people with disabilities prominent in the debate:

One of the things she wanted to do with the documentary, she said, was to ensure that the disabled activists who are “a big part of my life” and “who have waited for this voice for years… feel heard and seen”.

A series of disabled actors, artists and activists opposed to legalisation are either seen on film or interviewed in the documentary, including Lisa Hammond, Ellen Clifford, Jamie Hale, Paula Peters, Eleanor Lisney, Penny Pepper and disabled peers Baroness [Jane] Campbell and Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson.

Pring concludes the interview with Carr stating that her interview with Melanie Reid, who supports assisted suicide, primarily focused on the experiences of being two disabled women, living in contemporary society, and the struggles and the fights to get our care needs met”.

The documentary, Better off Dead? creates common ground for people with disabilities to oppose the legalization of assisted suicide. 

Previous articles about Liz Carr:

• Laws against assisted suicide provide equal protection (Link).
• Liz Carr address to Victoria Australia parliament on assisted suicide (Link).
• Disability activists say no to euthanasia bill (Link).