Popular euthanasia and assisted suicide articles

1. Sick Kids Hospital Toronto policy would euthanize children with or without parental consent - Oct 10, 2018.

2. Paediatric Palliative Care Symposium and child euthanasia - February 26, 2018.

3. Fatal Flaws film will change the way you view assisted death - June 8, 2018.

4. Declaration of Hope – Jan 1, 2016.

5. Guide to answering the Canadian MAID consultation questionnaire - Jan 15, 2020.

6. Kitty Holman: 5 reasons why people devalue the elderly – May 25, 2010.

7. Margaret Dore: Assisted Suicide: A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice - Feb 17, 2011.

8. Kate Kelly: Mild stroke led to mother’s forced death by dehydration – Sept 27, 2011.

9.  The Euthanasia Deception documentary. - Sept 30, 2016.

10. Healthy 24-year-old Belgian woman who was approved for euthanasia, will live. Nov 12, 2015.

11. Legalizing euthanasia saves money. Jan 23, 2017.

12. Boycott Me Before You - "disability death porn" - May 26, 2016.

13. Healthy 24 year old Belgian woman was scheduled for euthanasia - June 24, 2015.

14. Depressed Belgian woman dies by Euthanasia – Feb 6, 2013.

15. Kelly Block (MP) sponsors Bill C-268 Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act - March 19, 2021

16. Québec mother wants her 4-year-old son to die by euthanasia - August 16, 2021

17. Dr's Annette Hanson & Ronald Pies: 12 Myths about Assisted Suicide and Medical Aid in Dying. July 9, 2018.

18. British Columbia Health Authority orders hospice to do euthanasia - Feb 14, 2018

19. Physically healthy 23-year-old Belgian woman is being considered for euthanasia - October 14, 2019.

20.  Euthanasia is out-of-control in the Netherlands – Sept 25, 2012.

21. Belgian twins euthanized out of fear of blindness. – Jan 14, 2013.

22. Netherlands euthanasia review committee: euthanasia done on a woman with dementia was done in "good faith" -  Jan 28, 2017.

23. Mother upset after doctor urged her to approve assisted death for her daughter with disabilities - July 26, 2017.

24. Québec doctor testifies that Covid patients were euthanized rather than treated - November 19, 2021

25 Assisted suicide law prompts insurance company to deny coverage to terminally ill woman - Oct 20, 2016.

26. Woman who died by euthanasia, may only have had a bladder infection - Nov 14, 2016.

Become a member of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition ($25) membership.

More important articles:

• Belgian 2020 euthanasia report. Covid-19 had a minor effect on the number of euthanasia deaths.
• Netherlands euthanasia report. 9% more deaths in 2020.
• Study: More than 1000 Belgian deaths were hastened without request in 2013.
• Oregon 2019 assisted suicide report. Oregon assisted suicide deaths increase again.
• Washington State, nearly 25% more assisted suicide deaths in 2018.
• California assisted suicide deaths increase by 20%. 405 reported assisted deaths in 2019.
• Swiss assisted suicide deaths increase by 18% in 2018.
• Canada: Approximately 5000 euthanasia deaths in 2019 and 13,500 since legalization.
• Supreme Court of Canada euthanasia decision was irresponsible and dangerous.
• Ontario: Euthanasia deaths rise quickly with nearly 1800 reported assisted deaths in 2019.
• Quebec euthanasia - Third report, 142 unaccounted deaths.
• Do Not Kill Me: I oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.
• Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. 

The most popular articles in 2016 on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

In 2016, Canada officially decriminalized euthanasia and California decriminalized assisted suicide. The disability rights movement were right to protest the movie - Me Before You and the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition produced the documentary - The Euthanasia Deception documentary.

Good news. The South Africa Supreme Court rejected euthanasia, the New Mexico Supreme Court rejected assisted suicide, and South Australia rejected euthanasia.

We have hope. Our supporters wants Caring and Not Killing options and they oppose giving physicians, or others, the right in law to be directly involved with killing patients.

The 10 most popular articles posted on the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition blog in 2016.

1. Boycott the movie - Me Before You: "Disability Death Porn." Posted May 26.
2. California Assisted suicide law prompts insurance company to deny coverage to terminally ill woman. Posted Oct 20, 2016.
3. Canadian Senate passes euthanasia bill in time for their summer break. Posted June 17.
4. South Africa Supreme Court rejects euthanasia. Posted Dec 6.
5. The Euthanasia Deception documentary. Posted Sept 30.
6. Advice to Canada from Belgium: Safeguards are an illusion. Posted April 28.
7. Woman dies by euthanasia, may only have had a bladder infection. Posted Nov 14.
8. New Mexico Supreme Court: There is no right to assisted suicide. Posted June 30.
9. Canada's euthanasia bill provides a perfect cover for murder. Posted April 14.
10. The Declaration of Hope. Posted Jan 1.

More information updates:

• Dutch euthanasia deaths continue to rise in 2015.
• Belgian 2015 euthanasia report: Deaths continue to rise.
• Oregon 2015 assisted suicide report - another 26% increase.
• Washington State 2015 assisted suicide report. Assisted deaths increase by 31.7%.
• Switzerland: 26% increase in assisted suicide deaths in 2014.
• Quebec euthanasia report: 14% non-compliance with the euthanasia law.
• Do Not Kill Me: I oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Declaration of Hope

(Sign the Declaration of Hope)

We believe that legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide is bad public policy.

To legalize euthanasia and/or assisted suicide enables one person to directly and intentionally cause the death or to be involved with causing the death of another person. It is not safe to allow anyone to be involved with causing death of other people. We understand that the most tragic cases will dominate the public discussion, but the issues must be considered based on how it will affect society as a whole.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide is not an acceptable response to terminal or incurable illness or chronic conditions. Changing the law may result in some people feeling pressured and thereby consider themselves or their loved ones as ‘better-off-dead’.  Some people will feel obliged to justify why they want to continue treatment. For many, including attending physicians, euthanasia and assisted suicide would become the unspoken, but ever present, question resulting in a subtle, negative change to the doctor-patient relationship. Will this result in a “duty to die” or even a "duty to kill"?

Euthanasia and assisted suicide pose a threat to the equality of every person. The lives of some in people will be considered — “not worth living”. Among those at greatest risk are the elderly, the lonely, those living with disabilities, those experiencing chronic illness and those with limited access to good medical care. Maintaining laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide provide equal protection.

Older people are not a problem to be rid of — they’re a generation to be honored and cared for. Elder Abuse has become a significant societal scourge. We cannot ignore the possibility that dependent elderly people may be coerced into euthanasia or assisted suicide. We cannot put older people at risk by creating new paths to elder abuse.

We must not place the lives of people at risk. Legislators need to apply the precautionary principle: the higher the risk – the higher the burden of proof on those proposing legislation. The risk of abuse cannot be eliminated.

Legalizing euthanasia and/or assisted suicide is a recipe for abuse. So-called ‘safeguards’ are an illusion because they are unable to prevent the potential for coercion and abuse.

All people should have access to quality pain control — no matter where they live. Pain control and palliative medicine should be given a higher priority in medical training so that everyone can benefit.

Being involved in one’s health care plan and making informed choices are vitally important to a patient’s sense of well being. Euthanasia and assisted suicide weakens the autonomy of patients, reducing their choices about their care and symptom management. Euthanasia and assisted suicide may be increasingly adopted as the easier option to the exclusion of genuine patient centered care.

We firmly oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.

(Sign the Declaration of Hope)

The Declaration of Hope video message.

The American Declaration of Hope.

Declaration of Hope: Opposing assisted suicide.

Sign the Declaration of Hope.

We believe that legalizing assisted suicide is bad public policy and should be rejected by every State legislature.

Legalizing assisted suicide enables one citizen to be directly and intentionally involved with causing the suicide death of another citizen. America must not allow its citizens to be involved with causing the death of other Americans. We understand that the most tragic cases will dominate the public discussion, but the issues must be considered based on how it will affect society as a whole.

Assisted suicide is not a socially acceptable response to terminal or incurable illness or chronic conditions. Legalizing assisted suicide may result in some people feeling pressured and thereby considering themselves or their loved ones as ‘better-off-dead’. Some people will feel obliged to justify why they want to continue medical treatment. For many, including attending physicians, assisted suicide would become the unspoken, but ever present, question resulting in a subtle, negative change to the doctor-patient relationship. Will this result in a “duty to die”?

The government must not place the lives of citizens at risk. Legislators need to apply the precautionary principle: the higher the risk – the higher the burden of proof on those proposing legislation. The risk of abuse cannot be eliminated.

Assisted suicide poses a threat to the equality of persons. The lives of some in our community will be considered — “not worth living”. Among those at greatest risk are the elderly, the lonely, those living with disabilities, those experiencing chronic illness and those with limited access to good medical care. Laws that prohibit assisted suicide protect every Americans equally.

Older people are not a problem to be rid of — they’re a generation to be honored and cared for. Elder Abuse has become a significant problem in America. We cannot ignore the possibility that dependent elderly people may be coerced into assisted suicide. We cannot put older Americans at risk by creating new paths to elder abuse.

Legalizing assisted suicide is a recipe for abuse. So-called ‘safeguards’ are an illusion because they are unable to prevent the potential for coercion and abuse.

Every American should have access to quality pain control — no matter where they live. Pain control and palliative medicine should be given a higher priority in medical training so that every American can benefit.

Being involved in one’s health care plan and making informed choices are vitally important to a patient’s sense of well-being. Assisted suicide would weaken the autonomy of patients, reducing their choices about their care and symptom management. Assisted suicide could be increasingly adopted as the easier option to the exclusion of genuine patient centered care.

We firmly oppose assisted suicide legislation. 

Sign the Declaration of Hope.

* Declaration of Hope - Canada.

Letter to the editor: No to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

This letter was published today in the Winnipeg Free Press.

Sign the Declaration of Hope to oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition urges its supporters to write letters to local and national news outlets.

Assisted Suicide debate Stoked. 

Having cared for a child with special needs, I have great difficulty accepting any whiff of contemplation that we can choose to end a life we consider not worth living (MP fights for assisted suicide, March 27) 

The joy and peace I experienced through caring for my son, with all his physical challenges, was enforced by the big smile he greeted each day with in spite of his pain and discomfort. 

If the anguish of caregivers is the litmus test for legalizing assisted suicide, I reject this repugnant precept. 

I would rather we put our resources into home care, hospice and palliative care than ask doctors, bound by oaths to preserve life, to end a life. 

A political system with a history of residential schools based on forced "Europeanizing" of the indigenous people hardly garners confidence when deciding who deserves to live. 

Recommending Canada legalize assisted suicide because of high-profile cases of people seeking this option due to degenerative health conditions is a reaction stemming from pain rather than a reasoned response on how to make the lives of such patients comfortable. 

I don't have a definitive answer except to plead for reason, sanctity of life and justice to prevail. 

Shahina Siddiqui Winnipeg Manitoba

Link to the article: Euthanasia Prevention Coalition welcomes an open debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide.

20 most popular articles on euthanasia & assisted suicide.

1. Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice. - February 17, 2011. 

2. Euthanasia is out-of-control in the Netherlands – September 25, 2012.

3. Declaration of Hope – January 17, 2013. 

4. Belgian twins euthanized out of fear of blindness – January 14, 2013.

5. Nitschke continues to promote Nembutal sales over the internet – June 22, 2010.

6. Dr Phil show: Woman wants to euthanize her adult children with disabilities. – April 16, 2012.

7. Belgium euthanasia study finds that nearly half of all euthanasia deaths are not reported. – December 4, 2010.

8. 5 reasons why people devalue the elderly – May 25, 2010.

9. Trisomy 18 is not a Death Sentence. The story of Lilliana Dennis – May 29, 2012.

10. Québec's euthanasia Bill 52 is lethal. December 12, 2013.

11. Elder abuse caught on video, incident is not isolated. May 22, 2013.

12. Depressed Belgian woman dies by Euthanasia – February 6, 2013.

13. Botched sex-change operation victim euthanized in Belgium – October 1, 2013.

14. Suicide/Asphyxiation Exit Kit company raided by FBI. – May 26, 2011.

15. Oregon Suicide rate soars after legalizing assisted suicide. - September 12, 2010.

16. Bill to outlaw euthanasia by dehydration passed by Italy’s lower house. – July 13, 2011.

17. Euthanasia Poll: What do the people of Quebec really want. – November 22, 2010.

18. Mild stroke led to mother’s forced death by dehydration – September 27, 2011.

19. Belgium Senate will vote on Bill to extend euthanasia to children with disabilities – November 21, 2013.

20. Oregon 2012 Assisted Suicide statistics - January 24, 2013  

Other prominent articles:
• Responding to the disturbing decision by Justice Smith in the Carter case – June 20, 2012.
• Hassan Rasouli to be transferred from Sunnybrook hospital – January 6, 2014.
• Belgian woman with Anorexia Nervosa dies by euthanasia – February 10, 2013.
• Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide – December 4, 2012

20 most popular articles on euthanasia & assisted suicide.

1. Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Recipe for Elder Abuse and the Illusion of Personal Choice. - February 17, 2011. 

2. Euthanasia is out-of-control in the Netherlands – September 25, 2012.

3. Declaration of Hope – January 17, 2013.

4. Belgian twins euthanized out of fear of blindness – January 14, 2013.

5. Nitschke continues to promote Nembutal sales over the internet – June 22, 2010.

6. Dr Phil show: Woman wants to euthanize her adult children with disabilities. – April 16, 2012.

7. Belgium euthanasia study finds that nearly half of all euthanasia deaths are not reported. – December 4, 2010.

8. 5 reasons why people devalue the elderly – May 25, 2010.

9. Trisomy 18 is not a Death Sentence. The story of Lilliana Dennis – May 29, 2012.

10. Elder abuse caught on video, incident is not isolated. May 22, 2013.

11. Suicide/Asphyxiation Exit Kit company raided by FBI. – May 26, 2011.

12. Oregon Suicide rate soars after legalizing assisted suicide. - September 12, 2010.

13. Euthanasia Poll: What do the people of Quebec really want. – November 22, 2010.

14. Bill to outlaw euthanasia by dehydration passed by Italy’s lower house. – July 13, 2011.

15. Botched sex-change operation victim euthanized in Belgium – October 1, 2013.

16. Mild stroke led to mother’s forced death by dehydration – September 27, 2011.

17. Depressed Belgian woman dies by Euthanasia – February 6, 2013.

18. Responding to the disturbing decision by Justice Smith in the Carter case – June 20, 2012.

19. Belgium Senate will vote on Bill to extend euthanasia to children with disabilities – November 21, 2013.

20. CARP asks federal government to add offense of elder abuse to the criminal code - March 1, 2011.

Other recent or popular articles:

Quebec Bill 52 is not safe. December 12, 2013

Quebec Euthanasia bill (Bill 52) is a very dangerous bill. June 18, 2013.

Oregon 2012 Assisted Suicide statistics - January 24, 2013.

British Columbia Court to hear spoon feeding case – August 8, 2013.

Mobile euthanasia units started in the Netherlands today. – March 1, 2012.

Quebec Assisted Suicide advocate, Ginette Leblanc, dies of natural causes.

Ginette Leblanc

Ginette Leblanc, the woman who launched the court case in Quebec to strike down Canada's assisted suicide law, died of natural causes in her 50th year.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition offers condolences to the family of Ginette Leblanc as they grieve her loss.

Leblanc, who was living with ALS, hired a high profile recently retired human rights lawyer, René Duval, to challenge Canada's assisted suicide law. The case that was filed on October 31, 2011 claimed that Canada's assisted suicide law was unconstitutional. The case was scheduled to be heard in Trois Rivières Quebec from March 25 - 28, 2013.


The Toronto Sun reported Duval to have stated on Saturday that:

"Due to Leblanc's death the case is now closed"

The Leblanc case was nearly identical to the Rodriquez case that the Supreme Court of Canada decided in 1993 by a 5 - 4 margin that Canada's assisted suicide law was not unconstitutional.

However, Duval added a clause to the case that would have quietly legalized euthanasia in Canada.  The Leblanc case in Quebec.

Recently the Quebec government published the Menard report that established the direction that the Quebec government appears to be going in order to decriminalize euthanasia.

Quebec citizens should be very concerned that their government appears to be intent on decriminalizing along the lines of the "Belgian model."

When analysing the Belgian model of euthanasia it is clear that the definitions that are used and the system that is in place has led to significant abuses of euthanasia. 

EPC warns Quebecers to be careful for what you wish for.


The Carter case in British Columbia will be heard in Vancouver by the BC Court of Appeal from March 4 - 8, 2013. Let's hope that the BC Court of Appeal will strike down the disturbing decision by Justice Smith in the Carter case.

Gloria Taylor, the plaintiff in the Carter case in BC, who also lived with ALS, also died of natural causes in early October, even though Justice Smith had granted Taylor a constitutional exemption to die by euthanasia.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition launched the Declaration of Hope as a positive response to the human issues that lead to people requesting euthanasia or assisted suicide.