Mental Illness is not a Terminal Diagnosis Canada announced a delay in the implementation of assisted suicide for people with mental health disabilities. Since this delay, many proponents of and advocates against these laws have spoken up about this decision. Mr. Ashley Geddes wrote an article in the Alberta Times covering some of the reactions

Life With Dignity In our pandemic strained, profit-driven health care system, intractable pain and the fear of unimaginable suffering is not one of the top five reasons surveyed that many of society’s most vulnerable feel driven towards assisted suicide; Loss of autonomy, dignity and the perceived fear of being a burden to family, friends and

Canada’s Expansion in the World Medical Journal The World Medical Journal shared a compelling article on the dangerous expansions in Canada’s assisted suicide laws. The article reveals that Canada implemented their expansion to allow assisted suicide for patients with mental illness, and did so with a lack of evidence-based decision making, medical expert input, or

Patient’s Rights Action Fund Statement on Decision in Kligler Case 12-21-2022 The Court Made the Right Decision   The following is a statement from Matt Vallière, Executive Director of the Patient’s Rights Action Fund.   In rejecting Kligler v. Healey, in which supporters of assisted suicide were seeking to exempt the practice from the Commonwealth’s case

No One Should Choose Between Poverty and Death An advertisement by Simons, a retailer in Canada, that attempted to tell a dying woman’s story of euthanasia in a positive and artistic way was not telling the whole story at all. In a shocking turn of events, CTV News announced at the beginning of December that

Present Day Eugenics Canada is commonly recognized as one of the world’s most progressive nations, especially as it relates to healthcare. However, recent cases of veterans being offered assisted suicide is calling the true success of its healthcare system into question. Now, a Paralympic athlete and veteran of Canada’s military, Christine Gauthier, who desired a

We Need Real Care For People With Disabilities Alice Wong lives with a disability that requires at-home medical care. The care she needs is extremely expensive, and if not for GoFundMe donations, she would be institutionalized. For many in similar situations to Alice, medical care needed is often out of reach, leading people with disabilities

Doctors and healthcare professionals should not be steering their patients toward a decision that harms them in an irreversible way.

Money and Discrimination Key Reasons Patient Pressured Toward Assisted Suicide Roger Foley is a Canadian man who is being pressured to die by assisted suicide. His disability requires consistent care and he will continue to require medical assistance as his condition is degenerative. Mr. Foley wants to keep living and receive care that is specified

Doctors Avoid Patients with Disabilities, Putting Many at Risk of Assisted Suicide In the healthcare system, it does not take much to see that it is broken and disparities in care are prevalent. A recent article demonstrates this fact by telling the findings of Dr. Iezzoni at Harvard. She conducted anonymous research on a sample

Assisted Suicide Advocates Okay with Euthanasia for Infants It is no secret that Canada’s assisted suicide legislation, Medical Aid in Dying [MAiD], has seen rapid expansion since its implementation in 2016. In 2019, the Government of Canada determined that assisted suicide would be accessible to all those with “intolerable suffering” (i.e. those with physical disabilities).

Disability Rights Advocates Show Up at Supreme Judicial Court On Thursday, October 13th, members of Not Dead Yet and Second Thoughts gathered outside the Supreme Judicial Courts (SJC). People showed up with signs and flyers to remind the court and anyone who passed by that assisted suicide public policy, whether through the legislature or the

Dedicated Physicians See Victory for International Code of Ethics There was a strong attempt in the past few months to require effective referral of patients, overriding conscientious objection, for assisted suicide, euthanasia and other procedures in the new International Code of Medical Ethics being revised by the World Medical Association (WMA).   The initial draft of

Increase in Australian Assisted Suicides But Not In Actual Healthcare In Victoria, Australia, death by assisted suicide skyrocketed up thirty-one percent from June 2021 to June 2022. During that same time, evidence of a compromised health care system has raised alarm and questions about the inherently dangerous and discriminatory practice of assisted suicide. As an

Palliative Care Promotes Dignified Living Some patients with dementia, like Kate Cheney, have received a prescription for lethal drugs, despite being denied by doctors, who did not believe she had capacity to make such a life and death decision.   Dementia has become a deadly diagnosis for millions of Americans. Since the disease takes a lengthy

Mental Illness “Safeguards” Aren’t Safe At All Canada’s assisted suicide laws are soon to expand availability to patients with mental illnesses. Members of Parliament debated this issue as these changes are anticipated in March of 2023. The article states, “Mental health advocates warn it is harder to predict the outcomes and treatments of mental illnesses,

Matt Vallière Responds to New York Times Article The New York Times shared an article titled “Is Choosing Death Too Easy in Canada?” on September 18th, 2022. Executive Director of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, Matt Vallière, wrote a letter to the editor responding to this article. He writes:  “When care is denied or even

Three Common Issues With Assisted Suicide Laws The debate about assisted suicide and euthanasia laws continues to increase around the world, but as Americans begin to see the repercussions of assisted suicide laws from our northern neighbors in Canada, even proponents of assisted suicide are questioning whether or not these laws are working. There are

Rapid Expansion of Assisted Suicide Laws Raises Concern As number of medically assisted deaths climbs, so do concerns over its use. The debate on Canada’s assisted suicide laws continues to heat up. In just six years, the “safeguards” in place are already loosening, as they have here in the US in the states where it’s

Misconceptions About Palliative Care Harvard Health published a helpful article describing the purpose and benefit of palliative care. There are often misconceptions about what palliative care is and why it can be beneficial. From the beginning of the Palliative/Hospice Care movement, the purpose has always been a holistic approach to address physical, mental, emotional, and