Sponsor Alex Schadenberg in his 30 Km run

Alex Schadenberg is running the Hamilton Around the Bay 30 km Road Race on March 24, 2024. 

The Around the Bay Road Race is the oldest road race in North America. It is also one of the most grueling road races with its series of steep hills.

Help Alex Schadenberg with his 30 Km run by sponsoring him with a donation to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).

You can make your donation online (Donation Link).

You can make your donation by calling the EPC office at: 1-877-439-3348 or send a cheque to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Box 25033, London ON N6C 6A8.

You can send e-transfers to info@epcc.ca.

If you are willing to collect donations for Alex's run then contact the office to request sponsor cards at: office@epcc.ca or 1-877-439-3348.

Last year Alex raised by running the Around the Bay run, around $17,000 for the vital work of EPC. This year Alex hopes to raise at least $20,000 for EPC.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is a not for profit corporation but it is not a charity.

California Bill will expand law from assisted suicide to euthanasia and more.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

California Senator Catherine Blakespear (D) has sponsored the most extreme assisted suicide expansion bill in America by introducing Senate Bill 1196. 

SB 1196 will expand the California assisted suicide law by:

1. Changing the criteria from terminally ill (6 month prognosis) to the Canadian model: “a grievous and irremediable medical condition.” meaning No time limit.

2. Allow people with early to mid-stage dementia to consent to assisted suicide/euthanasia; even though they have a condition that impairs their capacity to consent. 

3. Allow euthanasia—by IV, as in Canada. Currently, California permits assisted suicide (lethal poison that a person takes orally at the time and place of their own choosing, with or without witnesses)

4. Remove the California residency requirement. This would allow California to join Oregon and Vermont, which dropped their residency requirements and now allow suicide tourism.

5. Remove the 48 hour waiting period between first and second request by the patient. Same day death. 

6. The California assisted suicide law is scheduled to sunset in 2031. This bill proposes to remove the sunset date.

Changing the California assisted suicide law to euthanasia, is not simply changing how the act is done it is legalizing a new act by amending California Homicide Laws. Assisted suicide requires medical practitioners to be directly involved in an act of killing someone. Euthanasia requires the medical practitioner to actively carry out the act. Canada legalized euthanasia by creating an exception to homicide, California will need to do the same.

Changing the criteria from a terminal illness (6 months prognosis) to having a 'grievous and irremediable medical condition' will lead to people with disabilities "qualifying" for death by lethal poison for reasons of poverty, homelessness, an inability to obtain necessary services or difficulty with obtaining medical treatment as has happened in Canada. (Article Link).

Euthanasia is sold to the public as allowing competent adults who are capable of consenting to die by lethal poison. Allowing euthanasia for people with dementia permits medical practitioners to kill someone who is not competent and unable to consent.

Removing the 48-hour waiting period will enable a same day death by euthanasia.

Homicide tourism would be permitted if Bill SB 1196 is passed since the bill permits death by euthanasia/homicide and it removes the California residency requirement.

Thank you to Dr Mark Komrad for alerting me to the purpose of Bill SB 1196.

California needs to reject Bill SB 1196.

Don't follow Canada's lead.

Slovenian government announces referendum on euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Picture from Slovenian interview

I recently travelled to Slovenia to talk about Canada's experience with euthanasia. As I reported in July 2023, Slovenia has been debating a bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. When I closely examined the bill, it was clear that Slovenia was debating a Canadian style euthanasia bill.

In late January 2024, I had the opportunity to speak with Slovenian politicians, several media outlets, television news, interview shows and to a large audience in Ljubljana, Slovenia's capital, where I felt that my message had caused a stir.

Today I was informed by the leader of the groups that are opposing euthanasia, that the Slovenian government defeated the euthanasia bill. I also learned that the Slovenian government announced that intend to have a referendum on the "basic question" of euthanasia rather than the bill that they have been debating.

The groups who oppose euthanasia have not seen the language of the referendum but they are organizing to win.

Illinois Assisted Suicide Bill SB 3499 is a more permissive bill.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have recently written how most of the assisted suicide bills are "bait and switch" bills, meaning, they are intentionally written in a "tighter" manner with the intention of passing the bill and expanding it later.

Illinois Assisted Suicide Bill SB 3499 is not a "tightly" worded bill, but even the provisions in the bill, once legalized, will soon be pushed for further expansion.

Almost all assisted suicide bills have employed a 15-day waiting period. SB 3499 has a 5-day waiting period that can be waived if the assessor considers the person to be nearing death.

Almost all assisted suicide bills require that a person be a resident of the State. Bill SB 3499 also requires that a person be a resident of Illinois, but the bill then has 11 statutes explaining how a person can establish themselves as being an Illinois resident. It doesn't take very long to obtain an Illinois drivers license.

The typical concerns with assisted suicide bills remain part of Bill SB 3499. For instance, a person with questionable competency may be referred for a mental health capacity test, but the licensed mental health professional only needs to determine if the person is mentally capable. A person can be determined to be mentally capable and at the same time be depressed and feeling hopeless.

The assisted suicide lobby claims that no slippery slope exists, yet, in the past few years existing assisted suicide laws have been expanded by: reducing or eliminating waiting periods, allowing non-doctors to participate in assisted suicide, allowing assisted suicide approvals by tele-health, expanding the meaning of terminal illness and removing state residency requirements.

Assisted suicide law expansion bills have been passed in California (2021), Hawai'i (2023), Oregon (2019, 2023), Vermont (2022, 2023) and Washington State (2023).

Illinois needs to reject assisted suicide Bill SB 3499 and commit to a caring culture.

More resource articles on this topic:

• The assisted suicide lobby wants to legalize assisted suicide in your state (Link)
• The Nationalization of assisted suicide in America (Link).
• Minnesota assisted suicide bill is lethally deceptive (Link). 
• EPC - USA statement to the New York legislature (Link).
• The assisted suicide lobby pass restrictive bills and expand them later (Link).

West Virginia Resolution would add - Protection from Assisted Suicide in the Bill of Rights.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Roger Hanshaw who is the Speaker of the House in West Virginia has sponsored House Joint Resolution (HJR 28) to add protection from assisted suicide in the state Bill of Rights. HRJ 28 states the following:

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia amending Article III thereof by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-three, relating to the protection from medically-assisted suicide or euthanasia in West Virginia; numbering and designating such proposed amendment; and providing a summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed amendment.

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:

That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to the voters of the state at the next general election to be held in the year 2024, which proposed amendment is that Article III thereof, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated Section twenty three, to read as follows:

ARTICLE III. BILL OF RIGHTS.

§3-23. Protection from medically-assisted suicide.

No physician or health care provider in the State of West Virginia shall participate in the practice of medically-assisted suicide, euthanasia, or mercy killing. Nothing in this section prohibits the administration or prescription of medication for the purpose of alleviating pain or discomfort while the patient's condition follows its natural course; nor does anything in this section prohibit the withholding or withdrawing of life-sustaining treatment, as requested by the patient or the patient's decision-maker, in accordance with State law, so long as the intention is not to kill the patient.

Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of article eleven, chapter three of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, such amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment 1" and designated as the "Protection from medically-assisted suicide" and the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows: "The purpose of this amendment is to recognize that West Virginians shall not have medically-assisted suicide or euthanasia forced upon them by prohibiting such actions."

Currently HRJ 28 passed in the House by a vote of 88 to 9. It still needs to pass in the Senate.

How many Quebec euthanasia deaths actually occur?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alex Schadenberg

In early February I wrote an article stating that: There were approximately 15,300 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2023 and more than 60,000 since legalization I made my prediction based on the euthanasia data from Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia. I wrote in my February article:

The Quebec Commission on End-of-Life Care released it's Eighth Annual Report which indicated that there were 5211 reported euthanasia deaths (April 1, 2022 - March 31, 2023) which was up from 3663 in the previous year (April 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022). According to the data there have been 15,997 reported euthanasia deaths from legalization until March 31, 2023 in Quebec.

This represents more than a 42% increase in Québec euthanasia deaths in 2023 representing 6.8% of all Québec deaths, which is the highest in the world.

The report also indicates that from April 1 - June 30, 2023 the number of reported Québec euthanasia deaths increased by another 24%, a slower pace of growth, but substantial considering the massive number of euthanasia deaths.

Amy Hasbrouck

When analyzing the Québec data I noticed some significant concerns. Were there 5211 Quebec euthanasia deaths or were there 5401?

Amy Hasbrouck from Toujours Vivant - Not Dead Yet, provided further analysis of the data found in the Eight Annual Report of the Québec Commission on End-of-Life care. Hasbrouck's indicates the following: 

How many Euthanasia deaths? 

• 5,211 MAiD reported by doctors in declaration forms (§ 3.2 p. 13)
• 5,401 euthanasia reported by hospitals and institutions (table C6 p. 46) 
• 5,208 MAiD declaration forms received by the Commission (§ 2.1, p. 6)
  

Total euthanasia deaths since legalization?

• 15,997 Adjusted MAiD from declaration forms (figure 3.2 p. 13, Row 3) or
• 16,044 (p. 28, “Observations”) 
• 18,532 Total declared by hospitals and institutions. (AR Table C6, QAR stats Row 7) 
  

Non-compliance with the law:

• The Commission concluded that 16 people did not have a serious and incurable illness
• Some people had loss of independence due to aging,
• Others had serious symptoms, but not clear diagnosis,
• Three people had disabilities, but no serious illness, which is a requirement for Québec’s statute 
• One non-compliant because doctor did not get confirmation from a second physician,
• One form was not signed by a health or social service professional,
• Two did not have valid QC health insurance. Since May 2022, the Commission no longer declares as “non-compliant” cases where the health insurance card has expired. This applied to 11 additional cases documented in the 8th annual report.

It must be noted that every year the Québec report admits to cases of non-compliance with the law. None of these cases have resulted in legal or professional actions. In August 2023, Dr. Michel Bureau, the President of the Québec Commission on End-of-Life Care sent a letter to euthanasia doctors urging them to stop abusing the law. In that letter Bureau claimed that there were two to three euthanasia deaths each month that did not fit the criteria of the law.

The 2022 - 2023 report was not the first year with concerns. In fact, all of the reports of the Québec Commission on End-of-Life Care have contained issues.

Hasbrouck reported in her article on the 7th Annual report that:

The seventh annual report from Québec’s Commission on end of life care was filed in Québec’s National Assembly on December 9, 2022. The report covers the 2021-2022 period (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022).

The Commission reported 3,663 euthanasia deaths declared by doctors during the fiscal year (p. 13), while the number of euthanasia deaths reported by facilities (3,629) and the Collège des Médecins du Québec (323) totalled 3,952 (p. 25 at note 25); a discrepancy of 289 deaths.

Hasbrouck stated in that article:

In light of the discrepancy (289 deaths) between the number of euthanasia reported in doctors’ declaration forms (3,663) and the facilities’/CMQ reports (3,952), and the unaccounted MAiD requests that didn’t end in euthanasia, (78 people) it’s hard to take seriously the Commission’s claim that 99.6% of euthanasia complied with the requirement of the MAiD law.

Québec is the only Canadian province that has two streams for euthanasia reporting, enabling the uncovering of under-reported euthanasia deaths. Quebec is also the only province that provides information indicating that some of the euthanasia deaths were outside of the law.

It is likely that under-reporting and non-compliance with the law exists in other provinces except that the other provinces don't have a dual reporting system and they are not analyzing the reports to determine if all of the deaths fit the criteria of the law. 

For the sake of brevity, I will provide links to previous articles concerning anomalies from the Québec reports on End-of-Life Care. 

Previous Quebec reports on End-of-Life Care:

• Quebec euthanasia deaths increase by 51% in 2021 - 22 annual report. A discrepancy of 289 deaths (Link).
• Quebec 2020 - 2021 annual euthanasia report. Euthanasia deaths increase by 37% unreported deaths continue (Link).

Assisted suicide causes pain and suffering for family members.

By Dr Jacqueline Abernathy Ph.D., MSSW

Jacqueline Abernathy

On Thursday, February 29, the Colorado State Assembly Senate Health & Human Services Committee voted in a rare bi-partisan 7-1 approval for assisted suicide expansion Bill SB 068. The committee has a 6 to 3 Democrat majority, so passage was sadly expected since this issue settled down party lines in recent years, but this was not a party-line vote but a nearly unanimous endorsement of an issue so contemptuous, that it took over two and a half hours of alternating two-minute testimonies to get through all the registered witnesses, myself included. Across my twenty-plus years of activism and 12 years of post-doctoral academic scholarship on end-of-life laws in the United States, I have testified in many capitols, sometimes waiting to conclude hearings lasting over ten hours. This hearing marked two milestones for me: my first time to testify remotely against assisted suicide and my first experience as a witness in a state where it was already legal. The latter was eye-opening. I heard new arguments from those in favor of easing access to self-destruct that gave me new insight into problems this practice creates that I never before considered, namely the emotional trauma of waiting for the means to kill yourself and the pain that knowing this self-imposed, unnecessary act will cause.

The testimony I heard was sobering and the lack of public engagement was a disconcerting sign of how desperately we must fight back on assisted suicide. As always, the case in favor of assisting a suicide was purely anecdotal, devastating accounts of sick and scared people who see suicide as the only way out of their circumstances, whereas my testimony and other opponents were pragmatic points of concern for the vulnerable and appeals to refuse violence as a substitute for real medical care and true compassion. Witnesses in opposition pointed out the dangers of SB 068, a bill that would strip the requirement that only physicians can prescribe lethal drugs, and reduce the waiting period from two weeks to just two days. Furthermore the bill would allow suicide tourists to obtain the lethal poison after just 48 hours to reflect upon this ultimate, irreversible decision: it would allow non-Coloradans to visit for the purpose of suicide and to subvert the laws in their home states, effectively creating a market large enough to sustain specialty suicide clinics that would profit off desperate, terrified people trading their money for a deadly dose of barbiturates from a total stranger with an ideological and financial stake in enabling many people to destroy themselves as possible. 

 

The talking points suggested that loosening the assisted suicide provisions was rooted in improving flaws in the law Coloradans and would have some face validity if the bill did not expand eligibility to non-residents. But as I said in my testimony, the amendments clearly accommodated out-of-state visitors so adding these individuals to the bill makes it appear that these changes are meant to cater to them, and residents are an afterthought who get to share the supposed benefits of quicker, easier access to assisted suicide. Stories from bill supporters were, as always, deeply heartbreaking and disturbing. It aches my heart to hear what people endure and wish so much that it didn’t wrongly appear that opposing assisted suicide means that we do not equally wish to see an end to their pain.

 

Most often assisted suicide is not about pain, but ableism when people can no longer enjoy life as much due to their condition which implies that life is only valuable for the physically able-bodied. There is also the fear of what dying from an underlying condition will entail vs. a certainty when choosing the means to kill. The reduction from fourteen days to 48 hours before a patient could take their own life was a key theme among witnesses who concurred that this wait was emotionally agonizing for those who were fearful that they might die naturally during the interim or the impending knowledge that they would be dead immediately once the medication was dispensed.

 

It was one such particular story that struck me the most deeply. A bereaved sister named Lindsay Menough recalled losing her brother, Eric Carlson, to assisted suicide in 2020. She testified in his honor that self-violence was his preferred alternative to dying naturally from brain cancer, not because he was in pain but because he “could no longer live independently and would die naturally within 6 months.” 

 

I also lost my sibling to the same underlying condition Mr. Carlson faced. Elizabeth Harvey died of cancer in 2022, from a tumor that spread to her brain. I could relate to the pain in this woman’s voice and the agony associated with watching a sibling battle such a merciless malady, but what hurts me the most is how different our experiences were in the same circumstance because legal assisted suicide enabled a torment I couldn’t imagine and thanks to my sister’s strong convictions against violence, an act she would have never subjected us to even if it has been a legal option. Menough spoke favorably of assisted suicide like it was a mercy but spoke of how cruel it is to know when someone who does not have to die yet still puts an unnecessary doomsday clock counting down the time they have left with you rather than treasuring whatever time they are given. She said, “Imagine your loved one would die on a particular day. Imagine that those days counting down would be like simply waiting, knowing the awful inevitable end was coming.” I can’t imagine because it is not meant to be this way. I know what it is like not knowing when that day would be when my sister would die much like I don’t know when anyone’s time will end, but with my sister, I knew that the day would soon come when Beth could no longer speak to me and would soon after, take her last breath. 

 

My experience was nothing like what this poor woman described while waiting for her brother to die by assisted suicide, impatiently awaiting the first available chance to end his life once he could do so with the assistance of “medication.” Menough explained, “The seventeen days from when Eric made a decision until the day he finally passed away were excruciating for Eric, for me, and for our entire family. The clock ticked, the days changed and with every passing second my brother grew more and more frustrated because he was simply there, able-bodied, of a sound mind, just waiting to die.” 

 

Able-bodied, of a sound mind is very much alive and able to live life to the fullest, the way my sister actually did until that life was over. Menough stated, “Eric lived a full life up until his last breath.” as If choosing to take his last breath as soon as possible didn’t throw that full life away, and recounts that he enjoyed aspects of being alive shortly before taking poison to die months ahead of schedule. “An hour before he started the process, we were walking in his woods. He enjoyed his favorite cocktail in front of the fireplace while listening to the Rolling Stones with the people he loved most.” Near the end, I was grieved by knowing time was limited with my sister to take walks and listen to music together. I knew eventually she would need heavy pain control and be mostly sedated and that even before she ultimately died, I would lose her because I would never be able to talk to her again, but I was comforted in that my sister didn’t arbitrarily cut that time short on purpose. 

 

Menough lost her brother and the time she should have had, which can only further complicate the same grief from the same kind of loss that I too endured. She concluded as if assisted suicide preserved the value of Erik’s life rather than taking that value away completely, stating, “He never lost any part of himself in the process of battling brain cancer.” I am glad she thinks this is so, but in taking his life, I think he truly lost all of himself while also taking himself from those who loved him. He let suicide steal months of fireside cocktails and nature walks. 

 

My sister never let cancer steal anything more from her or any of those she loved to the extent she was able to fight back. I got to have every conversation with her and enjoy every single moment of her company that she had left before she eventually fell into a coma and passed away peacefully. Had she taken a poison cocktail to become comatose months early while waiting for the poisons to kill her, she would have let her disease take more from her than it had to. 

 

This bereaved sister was lobbying to cut the time to even less before people could further limit their lives that were already cut short by a terminal disease. The torment of knowing when the last day would be was an additional and unnecessary trauma caused by assisted suicide. She wanted to shorten this torment not realizing that the torment should not exist and nor should letting a terminal diagnosis coerce you into just throwing away what precious life you have left. Our experiences prove that assisted suicide does not make loss easier, only harder. It was not until I heard stories like this that I came to understand just how much assisted suicide steals from those in dire circumstances. Once able to destroy lives, assisted suicide laws only grow into bills like SB 068 where the victims cry for it to steal even more from those already devastated by terminal illness. Although my fellow witnesses like Menough were fighting in honor of her late brother to only increase pain like hers, she is also a victim of pain I was spared by a sister who was committed to loving us with all the time she had left. We need to convey to those hurt by assisted suicide that the answer is not to make it easier to endure added unnecessary pain, but not to enable such pain at all.

 

I encourage more life advocates to turn out against the companion bill in the House committee once announced and for Colorado residents to make their values known to their representatives. Even as a non-Coloradan, I intend to continue fighting for the vulnerable people that inspired me to testify like I always have, but now, I will do it also for those hurt by assisted suicide who will, unfortunately, be testifying on the opposite side without knowing that there is a better way to face terminal illness than with elective violence. 

 

I will do so, not just in honor of my late sister but for other bereaved siblings like myself and more so, for victims like Menough. Stories like hers that I heard at this hearing and the inevitable added damage detailed in my testimony only prove how necessary it is for us to fight back against bills like SB 068 that only make an already bad law somehow, far worse. I hope you will join me as we continue to fight assisted suicide not just in Colorado, but everywhere it threatens human life.  

Indiana Resolution opposing assisted suicide passes in Committee

Indiana Resolution 17 titled: A Concurrent Resolution opposing and condemning assisted suicide passed on Wednesday February 29 passed on the Indiana Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services by a vote of 9 to 2. The following is the wording of the resolution.  

Whereas, The State of Indiana has an unqualified interest in the preservation of human life and the State's prohibition on assisting suicide in IC 35-42-1-2.5 both reflects and advances its commitment to the State's interest;

Whereas, Neither the United States Constitution nor the Constitution of the State of Indiana contain a right to assisted suicide and neither include a right for one individual to authorize another to end their life in violation of federal or state criminal laws;

Whereas, Suicide is not a typical reaction to an acute problem or life circumstance, and many individuals who contemplate suicide, including the terminally ill, suffer from treatable mental disorders, most commonly clinical depression, which frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated by physicians;

Whereas, In Oregon, 46 percent of patients seeking assisted suicide changed their minds when their physicians intervened and appropriately addressed suicidal ideations by treating their pain, depression, or other medical problems;

Whereas, Palliative care continues to improve and altering the treatment focus to relieving pain and allows a person to die naturally, comfortably, and in a dignified manner without a change in the law;

Whereas, Experiences in Oregon and the Netherlands explicitly demonstrate that palliative care options deteriorate with the legalization of physician-assisted suicide;

Whereas, A physician's recommendation for assisted suicide relies on the physician's judgment — to include negative perceptions — that a patient's life is not worth living, ultimately contributing to the use of "futility care" protocols and euthanasia;

Whereas, The legalization of assisted suicide sends a message that suicide is a socially acceptable response to aging, terminal illnesses, disabilities, and depression and subsequently imposes a "duty to die";

Whereas, The medical profession as a whole opposes physician-assisted suicide because it is contrary to the medical profession's duty to the Hippocratic Oath and their role as healer, and undermines the physician-patient relationship;

Whereas, Assisted suicide is significantly less expensive than other care options and Oregon's experience demonstrates that cost constraints can create financial incentives to limit care and offer assisted suicide;

Whereas, As evidenced in Oregon, the private nature of end-of-life decisions makes it virtually impossible to police a physician's behavior to prevent abuses, making any number of safeguards insufficient;

Whereas, Assisted suicide is a direct threat to human dignity, patient rights, and the disabled when the medical goal must be to eliminate suffering rather than the person who suffers;

Whereas, Patients should be allowed to die naturally through the use of ordinary treatment to sustain needs, increase comfort, and place the focus from curing back to caring rather than obligate the use of extraordinary medical treatment that would prolong their dying; and

Whereas, A prohibition on assisted suicide, specifically physician-assisted suicide, is the only way to protect vulnerable citizens from coerced suicide and euthanasia: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, the House of Representatives concurring:

SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly, in its unqualified interest in the preservation of human life, strongly opposes and condemns physician-assisted suicide.

SECTION 2. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide because anything less than a prohibition leads to foreseeable abuses and eventually to euthanasia by devaluing human life, particularly the lives of the terminally ill, elderly, disabled, and depressed, whose lives are of no less value or quality than any other citizen of this State.

SECTION 3. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide even for terminally ill, mentally competent adults because assisted suicide eviscerates efforts to prevent the self-destructive act of suicide and hinders progress in effective physician interventions, including diagnosing and treating depression, managing pain, and providing palliative and hospice care.

SECTION 4. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide because assisted suicide undermines the integrity and ethics of the medical profession, subverts a physician's role as healer, and compromises the physician-patient relationship.

SECTION 5. The Secretary of the Senate is hereby directed to transmit copies of this Resolution to Governor Eric Holcomb, the Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Health, and the Indiana State Medical Association.

Madam President: The Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services, to which was referred Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 17, has had the same under consideration and begs leave to report the same back to the Senate with the recommendation that said resolution DO PASS.

(Reference is to SC 17 as introduced.)
CHARBONNEAU, Chairperson
Committee Vote: Yeas 9, Nays 2

24 Years ago, Jeanette Hall had terminal cancer and she wanted assisted suicide. She is happy to be alive today.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

With contribution from Margaret Dore.

I was speaking this weekend in Oregon and Dr Kenneth Stevens gave us an incredible gift by bring Jeanette Hall to the event.

(Picture: Alex Schadenberg, Jeanette Hall, Kenneth Stevens, and Wesley Smith)

Oregon's assisted suicide law came into effect in 1998. In 2000, Jeanette Hall had cancer and she was give six to 12 months to live. Jeanette made a settled decision to use Oregon's assisted suicide law in lieu of being treated for cancer. Her doctor, Kenneth Stevens, who opposed assisted suicide, thought that her chances with treatment were good. Over several weeks, he stalled her request for assisted suicide and finally convinced her to be treated for cancer.

Yes, Dr Stevens was against assisted suicide, but he also thought that Jeanette was a good candidate for treatment and indeed she was. She has been cancer free for 24 years. In a previous article, Jeanette stated:

I wanted to do our law and I wanted Dr. Stevens to help me. Instead, he encouraged me to not give up and ultimately I decided to fight the cancer. I had both chemotherapy and radiation. I am so happy to be alive!

Jeanette told me that at the time of her assisted suicide request, she had lost hope. Her Aunt had died by cancer, her mother had Alzheimer's and her brother had recently died by suicide. She felt that there was no reason to live.

Jeanette with her son at his graduation.

Dr Stevens helped Jeanette find meaning and purpose by asking her about her son. Her son was in the police academy and Dr Stevens assured her that with treatment she would be able to attend her son's graduation. Jeanette not only attended her son's graduation but she overcame her cancer.

We are thankful that Dr. Stevens didn't give-up on Jeanette, that he convinced her to try effective treatment and that Jeanette is alive today.

As Jeanette said to me:

"It is now 24 years later and I am happy to be alive."

This article is based on previous articles concerning Jeanette Hall:

• If Dr Stevens had believed in assisted suicide - I would be dead (Link).
• Oregon woman changed her mind on assisted suicide after her doctor helped her find a reason to live. (Article Link).

Great News: Maryland Assisted Suicide Bill is Dead

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sapna Bansil reported on March 1, 2024 for the Capital News Service that Maryland's assisted suicide bill (HB403/SB443) is dead because it didn't have support in the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee. Bansil reported:

Senate President Bill Ferguson, D-Baltimore City, said in a press conference Friday that the measure had not won enough support among the 11 members of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee to move forward this term. Ferguson indicated he was unwilling to bring the bill for a vote if it was likely to fail.

“For this year, it’s certainly over,” said Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith, D-Montgomery, noting the bill would have fallen one or two votes shy of passing his committee.

The bill’s failure elicited strong emotions from its supporters on Friday, many of whom have experienced years of setbacks on the issue.

Sen. Ariana Kelly, D-Montgomery, a member of the Judicial Proceedings Committee and a bill co-sponsor said that she has public support for the bill.

Sen. Mike McKay, R-Allegany, Garrett and Washington said that he was pleased with the decision.

Bansil reported that Senate President, Bill Ferguson, believes that another assisted suicide bill will likely be introduced next year.

A similar assisted suicide bill was defeated in Maryland last year and assisted suicide bills were introduced in Maryland every year between 2015 and 2020.

Congratulations to all of the people in Maryland who have worked for many years to continue defeating assisted suicide bills.

Zoom Meeting (March 21): Euthanasia in Canada. What's Next?

Join the rescheduled Zoom meeting on Thursday, March 21 at 2 pm (Eastern Time) (11 am Pacific Time) 

Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Kathy Matusiak Costa, Director of Compassionate Community Care and Ottawa human rights lawyer, Lia Milousis will discuss - Euthanasia in Canada. What's Next?

Register in advance for this meeting: (Registration Link). 

Lia Milousis

Lia has become an expert on euthanasia based on her professional and personal experiences.

Kathy Matusiak Costa will discuss the direction of Compassionate Community Care and its programs that provide training and support for community groups and families.

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg will speak about the direction of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Bill C-62, the bill to postpone the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness alone until March 2027 has passed. We will talk about what is next.

We will discuss the problems and opportunities for Canadians to stop euthanasia.

When I was Anorexic I would have "chosen" assisted suicide.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Chelsea Roff

An excellent article was written by Chelsea Roff and published by Newsweek on February 23, 2024 concerning the false diagnosis of terminal anorexia and its connection to assisted suicide. Roff explains:

Nineteen years ago, I was hospitalized for severe anorexia. I was in dire shape: My skin was yellow from liver failure. I was unable to stand up, walk, or bathe myself. At 5'6" tall, I weighed 58 pounds.

Had I been hospitalized today, physicians might have debated whether I met the criteria for a new, controversial condition—terminal anorexia. Not yet an official diagnosis, the term appeared in the Journal of Eating Disorders, in an article describing the deaths of three patients with "severe and enduring anorexia."

According to the authors, their prognosis was grim, but treatment was "medically futile." Instead of forcing hospitalization, the consulting physician felt the most compassionate response was to allow them to die.

They were offered palliative care, and two patients received prescriptions for Medical Aid and Dying (MAiD). One patient died after ingesting a lethal dose, the other of malnutrition before she could take the medication.

The article sparked an outcry, igniting a debate about whether right-to-die laws allow patients with anorexia to end their own lives. MAiD is now legal in eleven states, but its use for a psychiatric disorder is a legal gray area.

Roff explains that in most states where assisted suicide is legal, the law requires that the person have a six month prognosis for death in order to qualify for assisted suicide. "Terminal Anorexia" may become a legal pathway to assisted suicide. Roff continues:

But it is especially complex in anorexia, a disorder in which patients appear rational in all ways except their ability to do the one thing that could save their lives—eat.

Even at the height of my illness, I was a convincing narrator of my mental capacity. I was remarkably lucid, yet could not comprehend the risk that starvation posed to my life.

One of the most striking neurological effects of starvation is how it distorts your emotional perception of risk and reward.

I felt comfort when I was hungry, but apathetic about my failing organs. If I had not been forcibly hospitalized, I would have continued starving.

Roff explains that many of her doctors had little hope for her recovery. They tried multiple treatments and therapies but she was obstinate, stubborn and appeared treatment resistant. She felt like a burden on her family and she states:

If the option for assisted dying had been available, I would have taken it.

She states that she was state mandated for 16 months in a treatment program which resulted in her recovery and today she runs a non-profit for people with eating disorders. She continues:

For years, I believed I had a chronic and likely terminal disease. I was told by well-meaning medical professionals that relapse was inevitable. I met people who had cycled in and out of treatment for decades—they said anorexia never goes away.

These ideas are unscientific and misleading, eroding the sense of agency and self-efficacy you need to recover.

The notion that anorexia is a terminal disorder has no place in medicine. Anorexia is difficult to recover from, but it is a treatable condition. Even with a paucity of evidence-based treatments, most people will recover.

Roff explains that Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder but 72% of patients can make a partial recovery and almost 50% will make a complete recovery. She then states that:

Assisted dying laws require physicians to deem with "reasonable medical certainty" that the patient will die within six months.

But in mental illness, there are no standardized tests to determine disease progression like there are in physical illnesses like cancer. Physicians' assessments of who is terminal are almost entirely subjective, carrying life-or-death consequences.

A diagnostic term is powerful, and especially for those with psychiatric disorders, a terminal one can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Calling treatment "futile" and death "inevitable" can itself diminish a person's capacity to make sound judgments about whether to continue living.

The creation of "terminal anorexia" will inevitably sow feelings of cynicism and hopelessness in people with a real shot at recovery.

Roff explains that a diagnosis of terminal anorexia leads to a life-threatening disadvantage. When a patient fails to get better and relapses for years they will often be steered towards palliative care or pushed towards assisted suicide leaving the system to continuing churning out subpar care.

Roff concludes:

Instead of a new diagnosis of terminal anorexia, we need enforceable standards of treatment and more funding for eating disorder research. Most importantly, we must not abandon or lose hope in those who have been struggling to get better in a flawed system the longest.

We can respect a person's autonomy without colluding with their most despairing thoughts—the feeling their life is not valuable. I am alive today thanks to those who never gave up on me, and for that, I will always be grateful.

Chelsea Roff is the executive director of Eat Breathe Thrive, a nonprofit that helps people recover from eating disorders. A yoga therapist, educator, and researcher, she has spent over a decade working to develop, deliver, and conduct scientific studies on yoga programs for people with eating disorders.

More articles on this topic:

• Anorexia does not justify Aid in Dying (Link).
• Anorexia is not a death sentence. I am living proof of this (Link).
• Assisted suicide for anorexia expands assisted suicide to chronic conditions (Link).