Wesley J. Smith joined host Simon O’Connor on Family Matters, a show from Family First New Zealand, to discuss human exceptionalism. Together, they discuss what makes humans different from animals, the problem with mainstream bioethics today, why euthanasia is wrong, and more!
Schadenberg discusses the Canadian Human Rights Commission's concerns submitted to a United Nations disability-rights review. The article emphasizes reports that people with disabilities may seek assisted death because adequate housing, care, or other supports are unavailable.
Schadenberg argues that Oregon SB 1003 would substantially broaden the state's assisted-suicide framework through changes to practitioner roles, waiting periods, and institutional policies. He cites objections from medical and disability advocates to support his criticism of the proposal.
Amy Hasbrouck examines Quebec's five-year end-of-life-care report and compares its findings with earlier reporting. She identifies unanswered questions about consent, decision-making capacity, access to palliative care, and compliance oversight.
Schadenberg estimates Canada's 2024 euthanasia total using available figures from Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta. He explains that the national figure is a projection rather than the completed federal annual report.
The number of couples requesting euthanasia together is on the rise in the Netherlands, according to official reports. In 2024, there were 54 such cases, compared to just nine in 2018. A notable case involving a former Dutch prime minister and his wife last year appears to have contributed to the growing demand. In the […] The post The coming trend: couples euthanasia first appeared on The Iona Institute .
Schadenberg highlights Danielle Smith's comments in a television interview about the expansion of Canada's assisted-dying system. He focuses on her concerns about mental illness, inadequate support, and the difference between current practice and the law's original rationale.
Schadenberg discusses restrictions imposed by a clinic on Ellen Wiebe following a disputed euthanasia approval for an Alberta woman. He relates the clinic's affidavit and an earlier court injunction to his call for scrutiny of eligibility decisions.
The coalition publishes a petition asking British Columbia authorities to investigate Ellen Wiebe's euthanasia practice. It cites disputed cases and requests regulatory action, while noting that allegations in one cited lawsuit had not been proven in court.
The number of euthanasia cases continues to rise in Canada, according to the latest official report on the topic, raising further alarm, particularly among disability rights groups. Even some early supporters of ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ (MAID) are now voicing concerns. Last year, 15,343 Canadians died by euthanasia or assisted suicide, according to the ‘Fifth […] The post Euthanasia continues to go out of control in Canada first appeared on The Iona Institute .
In the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Canada, people who want euthanasia can become organ donors. (A recent report in Spain showed that 13 percent of those euthanized donated organs.) Let’s call it “kill and harvest,” a policy heartily approved by our ever more crassly utilitarian medical establishment. Indeed, a recent study in JAMA Surgery applauds procuring the kidneys of the euthanized because, after five years, the organs of those killed by doctors and then transplanted have worked well — even better than kidneys donated by people after brain death. From the conclusion of the study, whi
Previous studies have shown an association between states legalizing assisted suicide and increases in suicide rates for other suicides. Now, pro-euthanasia activists are touting a new study which claims no impact. But the study actually finds a significant impact in the raw numbers. From the study published in the American Journal of Bioethics: 927,929 Suicide deaths were represented in the study. Ten states and the District of Columbia had legalized MAID within the study period. In an univariable analysis, states that legalized MAID differed significantly from non-MAID states with respect to
Why do you oppose euthanasia, Wesley? If people want to die, we should help them die. No. And here’s an individual example explaining just one reason why. A deeply depressed woman was about to be lethally injected in the Netherlands — but changed her mind just in the nick of time. From the New York Post story: Romy, 22, who suffered from clinical depression, eating disorders, and anorexia due to childhood abuse, made the heartbreaking decision to end her life in accordance with legislation in the Netherlands, which allows for euthanasia under certain circumstances. She decided not to go ahead
Wesley J. Smith was on EpochTV’s American Thought Leaders this week in an episode dedicated to exploring the history and dangers of the assisted suicide movement. From EpochTV: “When a country or a state legalizes assisted suicide or euthanasia, it can no longer call itself anti-suicide, because it specifically approves some suicides. … It’s a very dangerous movement that is normalizing this kind of approach to dying as opposed to natural death.” In this episode, I sit down with Wesley J. Smith, a lawyer, public speaker, award-winning author, and chair of … Discovery Institute’s Center on Huma
Dear Not Dead Yet Family, Allies, and Supporters, It is with heavy hearts and deep sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader, Diane Coleman. Diane’s legacy as a tireless advocate for the rights of people with disabilities, and as a fierce and unyielding voice against assisted suicide and euthanasia, will […]
The great anti-euthanasia warrior, Rita Marker, has died at 83 after a long illness. Rita was in Europe in the mid 1980s and, out of curiosity, attended an international right-to-die convention. She was so alarmed by what she heard, she and her late husband and soulmate Mike Marker, formed the nonprofit International Anti-Euthanasia Task Force (later renamed the Patients Rights Council). Along with a loyal staff, Rita began decades of work pushing against that dark agenda. Not every great public-policy activist becomes a household name. Rita wasn’t interested in notoriety or fame. Effectivenes
The horrors unleashed by Canada’s legalizing euthanasia are growing increasingly clear. Case after case of vulnerable people being killed instead of cared for have now been reported. More than 15,000 Canadians are euthanized annually. Some are even asking to die because they can’t access proper care in Canada’s socialized system, or out of loneliness as much as illness. One Canadian death doctor admitted to killing more than 400 people.
Those of us who value the life of all human beings understand the dangers of assisted suicide, or medical assistance in dying, as it is called in Canada. But now, others have begun to see the horrors of Canada’s laws. A recent article in the Frederick News-Post begins, “An expert committee reviewing euthanasia deaths in […] The post New Report Highlights the Evils of Medical Assistance in Dying appeared first on Celebrate Life Magazine .
Back in 1993, my first anti-euthanasia piece, published in Newsweek, warned that if we legalized assisted suicide, organ harvesting would eventually be included as a “plum to society.” “Alarmist!” my hate mail screeched. “Slippery slope fallacy!” etc. Even those who agreed with my overall critique assured me it would never come to pass. And yet it did. Conjoining organ harvesting with euthanasia is now deemed so respectable it is even boosted at the highest levels of the medical establishment. JAMA Surgery just assured us that kidneys harvested from patients killed in hospitals — as happens in
Last week, End of Life Ireland hosted the 2024 international conference of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, which pro-euthanasia campaigners from around the world attended. Several speakers at the conference made no secret of their wish to see euthanasia and assisted suicide permitted on very broad grounds indeed, far beyond the terminally […] The post Extreme euthanasia agenda revealed at Irish conference first appeared on The Iona Institute .
Suicide is at a crisis level in the United States and around the world. According to the World Health Organization, more than 700,000 people committed suicide in 2019. In 2022, there were 49,476 self-inflicted deaths in the U.S. alone, or 14.2 per 100,000 people. At the same time, assisted-suicide activism enjoys ever higher visibility, continually promoted in the media and popular culture as the best way to “die with dignity,” resulting in an increasing toll. Each year, well over 20,000 people around the world die by assisted suicide or euthanasia — which are generally not included in suicide