Resources for Opposing Assisted Suicide

 

I. BEST PRACTICES

John Kelly

Organizing a Disability Rights Campaign Against Assisted Suicide Laws: Coalition, Communication, and Consistency (July 26, 2013).  See the link to Not Dead Yet

Dr. Charles Camosy

Author of the book, Living and Dying Well: A Catholic Plan for Resisting Physician-Assisted Suicide. Dr. Camosy shares how Catholics should respond to the push for physician-assisted killing, why the so-called “right to die” quickly becomes a duty to die for the vulnerable, and what it means to help others to live and die well.  He highlights troubling examples from Canada and uses the inspirational example of Senator Ben Sasse’s public battle with cancer.

II. IMPACT ON PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

Disabilities in General

National Council on Disability.  Washington, DC, (202) 272-2004.

1. 1. 1. Letter from David Shawn Kennemer, Acting Chair, Vice-Chair, National Council on Disability to the Illinois General Assembly regarding assisted suicide legislation (May 1, 2025). See letter here.
      2. Report on The Danger of Assisted Suicide Laws (2019). The report is part of a series that presents information on how assisted suicide laws may impact policies and practices related to the delivery of medical interventions and life-saving medical care for people with disabilities. See report here.

National Catholic Bioethics Center.  Broomall, PA, (215) 877-2660

1. 1. 1. “The General Rise in Suicides and Legalized Assisted Suicide,” (Feb. 17, 2026) can be found here.
      2. Letter to the United Kingdom Parliament, House of Commons re the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-25 (March 3, 2025) can be found here.
      3. “Getting ‘Death with Dignity’ Right” (Dec. 30, 2024). Rev. Tad Pacholczyk, PhD addresses how suicide is never dignified and all the legislative maneuvering on the issue provides cover for patient abandonment. See article.
      4. The ‘Quality of Life’ Error” (Jan. 29, 2021). Pacholczyk asks if a patient is experiencing a low quality of life, does their life become “no longer worth living.”  See article.

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. Berkeley, CA, (510) 644-2555

1. 1. 1. “Disability, Patients’ Rights Groups Issue Joint Statement Opposing the Expansion of Assisted Suicide in Observance of Suicide Prevention Month” (Sept. 2, 2021) can be found here.
      2. DREDF letter in opposition to expansion of California law to include individuals with dementia and individuals without a terminal condition (April 15, 2024). See the letter here.

 Not Dead Yet. Rochester, NY, (708) 420-0539

1. 1. 1. John Kelly, New England Regional Director, Not Dead Yet, before the Minnesota Health Finance and Policy Committee (Jan. 24, 2024). See the testimony here.
      2. John Kelly, testimony before the New Hampshire House Judiciary Committee (Feb. 12, 2020).  See the testimony here.
      3. John Kelly, New England Regional Director, Not Dead Yet, Presentation – “Implementation and Implications of Physician-Assisted Death: It’s All about Disability” at the NASEM’S Physician-Assisted Death: Scanning the Landscape and Potential Approaches – A Workshop (video, slides, Feb. 12, 2018)Note, John Kelly passed away in November 2025.

Patients Rights Action Fund. New York, NY, (609) 759-0322. Its 501(c)(3) sister organization is Institute for Patients’ Rights.

1. 1. 1. “Oregon Assisted Suicide Reports Reveal Risks to Patients” (2025) can be found here.
      2. “Eight Important Reasons to Oppose Legalization of Assisted Suicide” (2023) can be found here.
      3. “Dangers of Conjoining Organ Harvesting with Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide” (2022) can be found here.

Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation. Bonney Lake, WA , (253) 501-7011.

1. 1. 1. “2023 Oregon Report Reveals Further Devaluation of Terminally Ill by Sharon Quick, MD, MA, President of Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation (press release, March 20, 2024) can be found here.
      2. Testimony of Sharon Quick, MD, MA (Bioethics), President, Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation before the Maryland Senate Committee on Judicial Proceedings (March 7, 2023) can be found here. 

United Spinal Association. Fort Totten, NY, (718) 803-3782

Piscopo, “I Am Against Physician-Assisted Suicide Because Our Lives Are Worth  Living,” (April 26, 2023) can be found here.

Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Washington, DC.

Testimony on Assisted Suicide, July 16, 2015 can be found here.

Lisa Blumberg, disability rights attorney.

1. 1. 1. Blumberg, “Assisted Suicide Laws Based on the Oregon Model Sweep in Disabled People” (Aug. 23, 2024) can be found here.
      2. Testimony before the Connecticut Senate Judiciary Committee, March 18, 2015 can be found here.

Richard Doerflinger

1. 1. 1. “Assisted Death and The Economist,” Public Discourse (July 24, 2024) can be found here.
      2. “Assisted Suicide: The Ethics, the Laws, and the Dangers,” Public Discourse (Aug. 17, 2019) can be found here.
      3. “A Reality Check on Assisted Suicide in Oregon” (April 13, 2017) can be found here.

 Dr. Joseph E. Marine, cardiologist, Johns Hopkin University.

Testimony before the Maryland House HGO and Judiciary Committee, March 3, 2025 can be found here.

Depression and Mental Illness

Sharon Quick, MD, MA (Bioethics), President, Physicians for Compassionate Care Education Foundation.

1. 1. 1. “Netherlands Devalues Those with Mental Health Problems – the Downward Ethical Slide Continues” (press release, April 11, 2024) can be found here.

Annette Hanson, M.D., is a Maryland forensic psychiatrist, an assistant professor of psychiatry, and the director of the University of Maryland forensic psychiatry fellowship.

1. 1. 1. Testimony on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Society before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, Feb. 20, 2020 can be found here. here.
      2. Hanson, “Minnesotans deserve better than the proposed death with dignity law,” Oct. 20, 2015, MinnPost an be found here.

Patients Rights Action Fund. “In Oregon, only 71 (3.3%) of the 2,159 patients who died by assisted suicide since its legalization in 1998 were referred for psychiatric evaluation.”

“Eight Important Reasons to Oppose Legalization of Assisted Suicide” (2023) can be found here.

Kelly Garino

“Distraught family blasts Canada for euthanizing son, 26, who suffered from ‘seasonal depression'” Daily Mail (Feb. 17, 2026) can be found here.

Anorexia and Eating Disorders

Dr. Angela Guarda, M.D., Director, Eating Disorders Program, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Stephen and Jean Robinson Professor of Eating Disorders, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Testimony before the Maryland Health and Government Operations Committee and the Judiciary Committee, Mar. 6, 2023  can be found here.

Joint Statement Against Assisted Suicide for Eating Disorders

Signed by 300+ experts and organizations can be found here.

Terminal Illness

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

1. 1. 1.  “Assisted Suicide Laws in Oregon and Washington: What Safeguards?” One-page Executive Summary, updated June 2025 can be found here.  The illnesses considered “terminal” for purposes of assisted suicide keep expanding. In Oregon, illnesses considered “terminal” include arthritis, anorexia (a psychological condition), diabetes, “benign” tumors, and “others.”
      2. “Top Reasons to Oppose Assisted Suicide” (2017) can be found here.

Dr. Heidi Klessig

“The Best Brain Tumor Ever.” (the story of how her husband was diagnosed with a tumor in his brain stem, his prognosis was that he would become disabled and eventually die, but nearly 20 years later, the tumor remained asymptomatic) can be found here.

Catholic News Agency

 “Three years later, this terminally ill man is glad he rejected assisted suicide” (Oct. 04, 2017) can be found here.  (JJ Hanson was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, given a prognosis of four months to live, but went on to live over three years. He has since passed away).

JJ Hanson’s wife, Kristen Hanson, wrote an opinion piece, “I lost my husband to cancer. I’m forever thankful he didn’t choose assisted suicide” can be found here.

III. ELDERLY

Aging with Dignity, Tallahassee FL  and Falls Church, VA. (850) 681-2010

IV. UNDERSERVED/MINORITIES

Anita Cameron, Director, Minority Outreach, Not Dead Yet.

1. 1. 1. Minnesota testimony, Jan. 24, 2024 can be found here.
      2. Maryland committee testimony, 2023 can be found here.
      3. Maryland committee testimony, Feb. 28, 2020 can be found here.  “My primary reason for opposition to this bill and others like it is that disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People Of Color) are at particular risk of being harmed by it.”

Paul Sullins

1. 1. 1.  “Assisted suicide threatens the dignity and safety of Black communities in Maryland,” Maryland Matters, Dec. 24, 2025 can be found here.
      2. Paul Sullins, “Knee on the Neck: Assisted Suicide and the African-American Experience in Maryland,” Maryland Family Institute Research Brief (Dec. 9, 2025) can be found at  www.MarylandFamily.org

Center for Racial and Disability Justice, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

 Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Report (2024) can be found here.

Patients Rights Action Fund

 “Blacks, Indigenous and People of Color REJECT Assisted Suicide” (2021) can be found here.

V. VETERANS

Tom Steffens, Rear Admiral US Navy (Ret.), formerly a Navy SEAL for 34 years, founding Vice-President of the Exalted Warrior Foundation,

Letter, “Legalizing Assisted Suicide Risks Harm to Veterans,” Mar. 7, 2020 can be found here.

Patients Rights Action Fund,

“20 Years of Assisted Suicide: The Tragic Reality of Veteran Suicides in Oregon (2021) can be found here.

Canada

For assisted suicide’s impact on Canada’s veterans, see Western Standard, “Veteran alleges 20 cases of assisted suicide offers by Veterans Affairs Canada,” Oct. 29, 2025 can be found here. (testimony by Kelsi Sheren, the CEO of Brass & Unity).

See also, Toronto Sun, “ Another combat vet who says he was offered medical suicide comes forward,” April 25, 2025 can be found here.

VI. FINANCIAL PRESSURE TO END LIFE

Kelsey Bolar

“Doctor: Insurance Wouldn’t Pay for Patients’ Treatments, but Offered Assisted Suicide,” The Daily Signal (June 28, 2017) can be found here.

Angelus News

“A doctor prescribed a procedure, but insurance offered death,” Catholic News Agency, Jun 23, 2017 can be found here.

Richard Doerflinger

“A Reality Check on Assisted Suicide in Oregon” (April 13, 2017) can be found here.

“Seventy percent of the patients taking the drugs in 2016 (and 71% in 2015) had no or only governmental health insurance.  Oregon’s state health plan provides full funding for “aid in dying,” while capping coverage for potentially life-supporting therapies, raising the specter of financial pressure toward assisted suicide.”

EWTN News

“Insurance denied her chemo treatment. But it covered drugs for suicide,” EWTN News (originally published on CNA Oct. 19, 2016) can be found here.

Susan Donaldson James

“Death drugs cause uproar in Oregon,” ABC News (Aug 6, 2008) can be found here.

VII. “SAFEGUARDS” IGNORED OR REMOVED

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities

“Assisted Suicide Laws in Oregon and Washington: What Safeguards?” One-page Executive Summary, updated June 2025 can be found here.

The full USCCB paper on the topic can be found here.

“Assisted suicide laws, once legal, inevitably expand,” (Jan. 22, 2025) can be found here.

Alliance Defending Freedom

Grant Atkinson, “Canada Is Still Confusing Assisted Suicide with Health Care” (revised Sept. 12, 2025) can be found here.  “Euthanasia now accounts for approximately one in every 20 deaths in Canada, making it the fifth leading cause of death in the country.”

 Lisa Blumberg

“Does Not Go Far Enough: Thaddeus Pope Gives Delaware Assisted Suicide Law a Middling Grade,” June 19, 2025 can be found here.

M Komrad, A Hanson, C Geppert, R Pies

“Beyond Terminal Illness: The Widening Scope of Physician-Assisted Suicide in the U.S.,” Psychiatric Times, Vol. 41, Issue 6, (June 6, 2024) can be found here.

Patients Rights Action Fund

“States Abandon Initial ‘Safeguards’ to Expand Assisted Suicide Laws” (2024) can be found here.

Dr. Daniel P. Sulmasy, MD, PhD, MACP, André Hellegers Professor of Biomedical Ethics, Director, The Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057,

2024 Maryland committee testimony can be found here.  The appendix to the testimony contains “Top Ten New and Needed Expansions of U.S. Medical Aid in Dying Laws” by TM Pope, which celebrates states which have taken action to expand access to assisted suicide.

Patients Rights Action Fund

“Assisted Suicide: The Bait and Switch. How Safeguards Become Barriers” (2023) can be found here.

VIII. PALLIATIVE CARE

Professor J. Brian Cassel, Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University, expert in palliative care.

Dr. Cassel wrote a Letter to the Editor “No Medically Assisted Death in Virginia,” Richmond Times Dispatch, Jan. 13, 2024, which can be found here.

Patients Rights Action Fund

“Eight Important Reasons to Oppose Legalization of Assisted Suicide” (2023) can be found here.

Aging with Dignity has the following eight helpful pdfs that explain why assisted suicide is “fatally flawed”:

1. 1. 1. Normalizing Suicide
      2. Normalizing Assisted Suicide
      3. The Role of Physicians
      4. Disability Discrimination
      5. The Slippery Slope in America
      6. The Domino Effect of Legalizing Assisted Suicide
      7. Questions Worth Answering
      8. FAQS for ASW

X. LITIGATION

Federal lawsuit against California’s assisted suicide law:

United Spinal Association et al. v. California, No. 24-02751 (9^th Cir.). The Appellants’ Opening Brief on appeal can be found here.

Named plaintiffs include the United Spinal Association, Not Dead Yet, Institute for Patient Rights, and Communities Actively Living Independent and Free (based in Los Angeles, California).

Federal lawsuit against Colorado’s assisted suicide law:

United Spinal Association; Not Dead Yet; Institute for Patients’ Rights; Atlantis ADAPT; and Mary Gossman v. Colorado et al, Civ. Action No. 1:25-cv-2014 (D. Colo., filed June 30, 2025). The Complaint can be found here.

Federal lawsuit against Delaware’s assisted suicide law:

Sean Curran, Delaware ADAPT, Freedom Center for Independent Living, United Spinal Association, National Council on Independent Living, Not Dead Yet, and Institute for Patients’ Rights v. Meyer, No. 1:25-cv-01475 (D. Del., filed Dec. 8, 2025). The Complaint can be found here. On Dec. 30, 2025 the case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction due to the plaintiff’s lack of standing. The case has been appealed to the Third Circuit.

For a list of organization’s that endorse the lawsuits challenging Colorado and California’s assisted suicide policies, go here.

Amicus Briefs

“DREDF Files Amici Brief in Case Seeking to Eliminate Key Safeguard in California’s End of Life Options Act” (Oct. 24, 2024) can be found here.

“DREDF Files Amicus Brief on Behalf of Itself and Eighteen Other Organizations Opposing Efforts to Establish a Constitutional Right to Assisted Suicide in Massachusetts” (Feb. 14, 2022) can be found here.

Assisted Suicide and Conscience Rights

Christian Medical and Dental Associations v. Bonta, No. 5:22-cv-00335-FLA (GJSx), (Dist. Ct. C. D. Calif., May 17, 2023). Alliance Defending Freedom, which brought the suit, explains that “in May 2023, in a victory for the rights of medical professionals, California agreed in a settlement to no longer force doctors to violate their religious beliefs by participating in physician-assisted suicide. State officials vowed not to enforce “any criminal or civil punishment, including professional discipline or licensing sanction,” against California physicians who decline to participate in PAS.” For more information on the case, go here:

Updated 2/20/2026