In a historic address to Spain’s Parliament on June 8, Pope Leo XIV received a standing ovation after declaring that “the defense of human life is neither a partisan issue nor a confessional interest: it is a goal of civilization.”
“If life ceases to be recognized as a fundamental value, what future can our societies have?” he asked lawmakers, many of whom support abortion and euthanasia. The pope continued: “Can a community that casts into the shadows the unborn child, the elderly, the sick, those who suffer in silence, or those who depend entirely on the care of others be called fully just? Every human life must be recognized and safeguarded from conception to its natural end, in every circumstance of its existence.”
Leo’s words, echoing themes in his first encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, cut to the heart of what sustains just societies. Yet they also expose a critical weakness in our public discourse: Most people do not know that we can answer the question of when a human life starts with an objective scientific fact. Without this foundational knowledge, we lack the intellectual equipment to fully defend individual human lives or the civilization built upon them.
The biological science of human embryology, the specialized branch of biology that studies when human life begins and its early development, has been unequivocal for more than 80 years. Since 1942, the Carnegie Stages of Human Embryonic Development — the international gold standard, akin to the periodic table in chemistry — have documented this moment with precision.
At Carnegie Stage 1, fertilization begins with first contact between sperm and oocyte, marking the beginning of a new, whole, individual, and living human being. This new organism directs its own continuous, coordinated development from that moment forward. Ronan O’Rahilly, one of the world’s authorities on human embryology, states it simply: “Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed.” Human embryologist C. Ward Kischer similarly affirms that from this initial contact, “all subsequent development to birth of a living newborn is a fait accompli.”
In other words, we are talking about a seamless process in which stages overlap and blend, with no upgrade or second trigger required at implantation, the onset of the heartbeat, “viability,” birth, or any other milestone.
Human embryology assigns no reduced status to the unborn (the disabled, the sick, or the elderly). The embryo, fetus, infant, toddler, and so on, is the same human organism progressing through the natural stages of development along the continuum of human life.
Every human being is a human person by virtue of existing as a member of our species — not by achieving certain developmental milestones such as size, location, consciousness, sentience, or “independence.” This intrinsic reality applies equally from the tiny beginnings of one’s biological existence to natural death. The claim that biomarkers somehow change the essence of a human being (rendering someone “more fully human” later) is not science. It is a politically charged fabrication.
Many people today nevertheless embrace this destructive myth, dehumanizing the vulnerable at every stage. The comedian Bill Maher captured this mindset in 2024 when he acknowledged that pro-lifers view abortion as murder “and it kind of is,” while admitting he is “OK with that,” a casual acceptance of ending what he and others frame as a less-than-fully-human life. (Maher is the most intellectually honest of today’s talk-show hosts, and it’s therefore all the more disturbing that he should hold these sinister views.)
Our inhumanity is seen at its most stark and shameless in the case of abortion. Decades of treating the unborn as disposable “potential” humans, mere tissue, or “pre-embryos” have led to the deaths of more than 65 million unborn children in the United States alone since 1973. Many Americans shy away from the issue precisely because this dehumanization has made the unborn seem subhuman.
Consider people with Down syndrome: In the United States, an estimated 67-74% of pregnancies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome end in abortion. Rates climb even higher in Europe, with Iceland close to 100% and Denmark reaching 98%. The same flawed thinking underlies assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) such as IVF, in which millions of embryonic human beings are created, often frozen indefinitely, discarded as “surplus,” or used in research, further severing early human life from its rightful place among humankind.
Not surprisingly, this horrifying, conditional view of humanity and personhood also extends to the elderly and disabled, fueling growing enthusiasm for euthanasia.
This ideology of pre- and post-human personhood is not science. It is a narrative that justifies discarding the fragile. As Pope Leo warned, when this certainty is obscured, “the most vulnerable are the first victims, and the law loses its deepest meaning: to serve and protect every person.”
How did we reach this grave place? Public perception lags badly behind scientific consensus. Many Americans still believe that the status of a human life is a subjective political, religious, or personal matter. Younger Americans are especially uninformed; nearly 40% think that a new human life begins at birth.
But people cannot think about what they do not know. Our public policies and laws must be anchored in objective truth. Recognizing all human beings as human persons from the very beginning of their biological existence is not an imposition of ideology: it is the foundation of equality and justice. It aligns faith’s witness with reason’s clearest evidence, building the “civilization of love” the pope offers us as an alternative to throwaway culture and technological reductionism.
In an era of profound bioethical challenges, from chemical abortion to advances in artificial intelligence and biotechnology, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that protecting human life at every stage is civilization’s litmus test. Until we stop ignoring the objective scientific (embryological) reality of human reproduction and human development, we will fail.
***
Brooke Stanton is the co-author of “The First 56 Days of You: How Your Human Journey Begins” and the chief executive officer of Contend Projects, a registered 501(c)(3) education organization spreading the basic, accurate scientific facts about when a human life starts and the biological science of human embryology.

third month fetus

The Pope, Science, And The Foundation Of Civilization

DW Opinion

Euthanasia

Human Dignity

personhood

Pope Leo

pre-born

Pro-Life Movement

On the surface, Pierre Poilievre’s recent appearance on the Joe Rogan <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtbGgSwuE_U">podcast</a> had more good than bad. The Conservative leader came across as likable, down-to-earth, and clear. He stressed the need to unleash Canada’s energy potential. He called for cutting regulations that have suppressed innovation. He pushed for lower government spending. These are all sound ideas and Canada would surely benefit from them.
But one key moment showed the real substance of Poilievre’s platform: empty individualism. This view defines human dignity as absolute self-expression. It not only cheapens human life, it weakens the institutions that support Canadian culture.
The moment happened when Rogan critiqued the current state of Canada’s euthanasia program.
Rogan expressed a reasonable concern. He noted that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j1z14p57po">1 in 20</a> Canadian deaths now come from so-called assisted suicide or Medical Aid in Dying (MAID). Poilievre replied that he believes people should “have the choice” to be euthanized. His main concern was the idea that it would be offered to kids or to people whose only condition is mental illness.
In other words, his issue is not with Canada’s current euthanasia rules. His issue is only with suggestions that have not yet become law.
Canada’s euthanasia regime is abhorrent, with or without amendments. Track 2 euthanasia lets individuals apply for MAID based on an incurable physical condition. This includes a disability. The Atlantic recently <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/0">published</a> a piece on the ethical and practical questions facing “providers.” A more accurate word would be deprivers. These providers must interpret euthanasia rules on their own. One story described a doctor who euthanized a man in his 30s. The man had a treatable form of cancer, but he had refused all other treatment. This made his condition “irremediable.”
Human dignity should be the first commitment of any conservative. Poilievre often touts individual rights. Yet he ignores the most fundamental one: the right to life. To say someone has an intrinsic right means they possess it simply because of who they are. It does not depend on what they do.
But Poilievre’s willingness to allow euthanasia for those who are suffering and dying sends a clear message. It says the value of human life depends on personal judgment.
His criticism of euthanasia for the mentally ill is confusing. If people should have a “freedom” to die on their terms — in Canada that includes the terminally ill, disabled, and chronically sick — why must those symptoms be physical? In fact, we know they often are not.
Stories abound of individuals struggling with depression who have applied for MAID. One <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/kiano-vafaeian-medical-assistance-in-dying">example</a> is 26-year-old Kiano Vafaeian. He was struggling with vision loss and depression.
At the heart of Poilievre’s blunder on euthanasia is a false understanding of human dignity. Ironically, it is the same understanding that drives the woke excesses of the Liberal elite. They see dignity as absolute self-expression. This empty individualism separates life’s meaning from the broader context of nature, community, and tradition.
When applied to culture, this leads to a cheapening of human life. It is no surprise that places that legalize assisted suicide see an increase in overall suicide rates. Chosen or not, Poilievre fails to understand one key point. Euthanasia is a symptom of a sick, depressed, and lonely culture.
A culture that is killing itself is not going to be saved by lower housing costs. Economic prosperity can certainly help but it is not the sole solution.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Joe Rogan Experience #2470 - Pierre Poilievre" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JtbGgSwuE_U?start=706&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Poilievre’s wholesome vision for Canada is admirable. He wants a future where families enjoy the fruit of their labor without government interference. Ideally, they live in a white-picket-fenced home that they can afford. But this vision is unachievable without cultural renewal. The expressive individualism of the Liberal and Conservative elites will not deliver that renewal.
Canadian culture is not only suicidal it is also sterile. Nearly <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/11638221/canada-ultra-low-fertility/">one in four</a> Canadian women in their 40s have no kids. Last year, Poilievre was absurdly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pierre-poilievre-biological-clock-1.7499220">reprimanded</a> by Liberal MPs. They criticized him for recognizing that unaffordable housing causes couples to run out of time to start families before their “biological clocks” expire. The idea that government should be completely impartial to marriage and fertility rates is ludicrous.
These rates can give a glimpse into the hope people place in their future. Economic strain can suppress this hope and so can a nihilistic culture that has cheapened human life. The family is not merely an economic unit. It is a legacy-making enterprise. A culture that sees no value in life beyond individual expression makes the self-sacrificial reality of marriage seem absurd.
Unlike Poilievre, a true conservative recognizes that dignity is not rooted in our personal judgment. It is intrinsic to who we are. Our identity should be understood in reference to the people, institutions, and traditions that shape us. We should seek economic prosperity. But we should not seek it at the cost of the integrity of those institutions.
Poilievre has an impressive ability to explain those institutions. One of the best moments from the podcast was his explanation of the Westminster tradition, which is deeply connected to Canada’s British heritage.
What Poilievre takes for granted is this: hopelessness grows when people feel isolated. Yet the political elite — both Conservative and Liberal — expect the average Canadian to accept this isolation without complaint. Canada has some of the highest immigration rates per capita in the world. Conservatives claim to support assimilation into Canadian culture but they lack the ability to identify and preserve what is exemplary of that culture.
At Confederation, Canadian culture wasn’t divorced from a broader religious and moral consensus. It was founded against the backdrop of a predominantly Christian society. The 1871 census showed over <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-religions-in-america/religion-in-canada-18671945/3AA29A820C78AB35B6F22D2F4F763E65">98%</a> of the population as Christian. All 36 Fathers of Confederation were raised in a Christian tradition. This included Roman Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Presbyterianism. Yet Poilievre’s policies, especially on immigration, fail to take this into account. His view is that anyone can “become” Canadian. He defines it loosely as a belief in “freedom.” This view will not produce the assimilation needed for cultural unity. It will lead Canada further down the path of cultural decay.
Does this mean that people of non-Christian faiths should not come to Canada? Not at all. But it does mean that policymakers should protect the shared morality, customs, and traditions passed down from the time of Confederation. They should make judgments on immigration policy with prudence. They should keep the interests of Canadians in mind. Those interests should not be measured only in economic output. They should include cultural unity.
Poilievre’s discussion was typical of the decades-long drift of the Conservative establishment. It has moved toward a “balancing the budget” style of liberalism. This style redefines human dignity. It has cheapened human life. It has undermined the family. It has squandered Canada’s cultural inheritance. It has failed.
Moving forward, the Conservatives should let their party’s name guide their ideology. Canadians do not just want lower costs, they want flourishing families. They want a unified nation and a culture of hope. That is the true mission of conservatism. The Conservative establishment would do well to remember it.
* * *
Liana Graham is a research assistant in domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. She is originally from Oakville, Ontario, Canada.

jre poil

The Most Telling Moment Of Poilievre’s Joe Rogan Interview

Assisted Suicide

Canada

Conservatives

Heritage Foundation

Joe Rogan

Pierre Poilievre

Wayne LaPierre

Sometimes a news event comes along that is so chillingly horrific that it confirms the presence of the devil in our midst. Thursday’s murder of a young woman by the state through euthanasia certainly qualifies.
This particular case also contains a warning: it is happening in Europe as a result of societal trends that are also gathering speed in America. These include family breakdown, secularization, the growth of the state, and the resulting embrace of a culture of death by the bureaucracy, the media, and the Left.
And this was not a one-off. Noelia Castillo Ramos, in Spain, is the second young woman in less than three years to be euthanized by a European state.
In fact, the two cases are alarmingly similar. Noelia and Milou Verhoof, who was euthanized in the Netherlands in 2023, were both raped as mere girls, understandably fell into depression, and eventually asked the state to help kill themselves. And the state was only too happy to oblige.
The case of Noelia — killed at a hospital near Barcelona — has drawn worldwide attention online, which is itself proof that the desire to cling to life is a basic human instinct.
Noelia suffered a lot in her life. The Spanish government took custody from her parents 12 years ago when she was just 13, after they divorced, fell into hard times, and lost their house. Her father, Gerónimo, drank at the time, according to news reports.
The Catalan regional government, of which Barcelona is the capital, then placed her in a state-supervised youth center. It was there that Noelia was gang-raped by three young men who were reportedly illegal aliens.
Nothing happened to her aggressors, but Noelia was never the same. She plunged into a severe depression, and suffered as well from borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In 2022, Noelia tried to end her life by throwing herself from a fifth-floor window. She survived, but ended up a paraplegic, stuck in a wheelchair and suffering great pain.
She then demanded euthanasia, which Spain’s current government of Socialists and communists legalized in 2021. Noelia’s father opposed it, arguing that her many disorders prevented her from making an informed decision, and pursued the case till the end in the courts.
On Thursday, a Barcelona judge denied a last-minute request to halt the proceedings. Around 6:00 pm, doctors at Hospital Residència Sant Camil in Sant Pere de Ribes, near the Catalan capital, gave her a lethal injection that stopped her breathing and her heart.
Noelia, in other words, was asphyxiated by the same state that took her away from those who loved her — and then either could not or would not protect her.
For the Left, this was a victory. The newspaper El País wrote caustically about the Abogados Cristianos, the Spanish Foundation of Christian Lawyers, which worked with Noelia’s father to stop the euthanasia. In typical lapidary style, the paper wrote:
<blockquote>For a year and a half this organization [Abogados Cristianos] has been behind the father’s legal battle to prevent the assisted death of Noelia, who suffers from paraplegia. … Advised by the ultra-Catholic group Abogados Cristianos, the man has entangled his daughter in a legal maze that has kept her alive, against her will, for 601 days.</blockquote>
For Spain’s main leftist newspaper, this was about “dying with dignity.” The court battle “prolonged the suffering of a young woman who has never wavered in her decision and who has received scientific endorsement from the independent professionals who make up the Catalan Guarantee and Evaluation Commission (CGAC).”
And this has indeed been a battle between those who believe that the state, led by technocrats, has the right to impose its choices on the family, even to make life-and-death decisions, and those who believe in a higher order. Good and evil, some might say.
Bestselling Spanish author Irene Gonzalez, a friend and insightful observer of Spanish life, called it a “state execution.&#8221; She wrote on X:
<blockquote>The State separated her from her parents — who loved her — yet failed to protect, shelter, or provide her with psychological or emotional support. She was a vulnerable young woman whom the State left in a state of absolute defenselessness; its solution is simply to get her out of the way. Euthanasia appears to be the execution — the final step in a case involving abduction and torture — carried out with the haste of a system eager to erase the traces of what the “State” is truly doing in the name of a dignified death.</blockquote>
America, look at Europe — and beware.
* * *
Mike Gonzales is the Angeles T. Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

A Barcelona Judge Refuses For The Third Time To Suspend Euthanasia For Noelia Castillo

The State Took Her From Her Family. Then It Decided She Should Die.

Child rape

Europe

Immigrants

Rape

Spain

Women

Editor’s note: This week, we’re reprinting some of our best stories from the past year. In this piece, originally published in November, Amanda Prestigiacomo exposes the horrifying new frontier of Canada&#8217;s assisted suicide program.
Advocates for assisted suicide in Canada, where it’s been legal for just under a decade, are pushing to expand the practice to children.
Canada’s euthanasia program, known as MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying), started back in 2016 for people whose natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” and wanted to end their lives. It’s already been expanded — both expanding the pool of adults who are eligible and how it can be administered, leading to an explosion of suicides in recent years.
Now, groups are calling for minors as young as 12 years old to be included in the government-funded suicide program. One advocacy group, called “Dying With Dignity Canada,” recommends minors as young as 12 be included in the program, and goes as far as to suggest 16 and 17-year-olds shouldn’t even need parental consent to be killed by a doctor if they fit broad criteria.
The group calls for assessing age eligibility based on “maturity” rather than “chronological age.”
<div id="attachment_993695" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-993695 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.55.52-PM-786x576.png" sizes=" (max-width: 786px) 100vw, 786px" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.55.52-PM-786x576.png 786w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.55.52-PM-300x220.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.55.52-PM-768x563.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-30-at-1.55.52-PM.png 1526w" alt="" width="786" height="576" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-993695" /></div>
Dying With Dignity Canada
</div>
Experts say the advocacy shows there was merit to the “slippery slope” argument made against the law from the outset.
“There is a kind of gruesome, relentless logic at work here, and this is why the logical ‘slippery slope’ argument is a valid argument,” Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist and director at Ethics and Public Policy Center, told The Daily Wire. “Once you cross the line of allowing doctors to kill patients, once you cross the line of accepting the basic premise of the euthanasia movement — which is that some lives are not worth living and therefore these people should be killed by the medical profession, then it’s very hard to argue that there should be any limitations.”
The MAiD program started back in 2016, with only people whose natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” eligible. In 99% of cases, a medical professional administers a substance that causes a person’s death, which is technically euthanasia. In the other cases, a person will be provided a substance to self-administer to cause their own death, which is defined as assisted suicide.
There’s only been an expansion of these procedures since the creation of MAiD, with massive growth in 2021, when chronic illness and disability were included as sole reasons for someone to be euthanized.
With an increasing number of people being euthanized every year, 2023 data shows more than 15,000 people were killed via MAiD. That accounts for 4.7% of all deaths in Canada. Put another way, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j1z14p57po" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 in 20</a> Canadians who die every year are being euthanized.
Advocates for including so-called “mature” minors in the MAiD program argue that children need more autonomy over their health care, and note that minors can already consent or refuse certain medical treatments, so including them, they argue, would be consistent. They say it’s about compassion.
The “slippery slope” argument, Kheriaty said, is playing out in real time in Canada. “Your basic premise, your basic argument is people should be able to do this on the basis of one of two things: autonomy and choice on the one hand, or pain and suffering on the other hand. And people can always invoke pain and suffering,” he said. “Who’s to say that they’re not suffering more than someone who qualified under the law, right?”
Kheriaty said that just a few years ago, he may have viewed the movement to euthanize minors as fringe. He doesn’t view it that way anymore.
“A few years ago, I would’ve said, ‘No, I don’t think the Canadian regime is going to go that far to have so-called ‘mature minors,’ adolescents avail themselves of euthanasia,&#8217;” he said. “But now, I’m sad to say I wouldn’t put it past them.”
In addition to the movement to include minors in the MAiD program, there’s a strong push to include people who suffer solely from mental health issues, like depression. That’s set to take effect in 2027. But Kheriaty says it’s already happening in Canada.
“There have been at least a few cases described and reported widely in the last couple of years in Canada,” he said. “I remember one case of, I believe it was a 27-year-old female, a woman in her twenties <a href="https://calgary.citynews.ca/2024/06/04/calgary-maid-appeal-case-advocacy-groups-intervene/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">whose sole diagnosis was autism and ADHD</a>, neither of which are terminal conditions.”
“So even if it’s not officially legalized in Canada yet, that psychiatric conditions can be used as the sole criteria for euthanasia,” he said. “There have been reported cases in the literature where clearly that’s been happening already.”
Kheriaty believes opposition must come from the medical community.
“Most people who avail themselves of this have a deep-seated fear that they’re going to be a burden on others,” he explained. “They’re gonna be a burden on society. They’re gonna be a burden on the medical community that’s not gonna want to care for them.”
“And we have to respond, rather than abandoning the patient by saying, ‘Yes, here’s the poison pill,’ or, ‘I’ll administer the poison injection to you.’ We have to respond by saying, ‘No, it’s a privilege to care for you.’ It’s a privilege to walk with you through what might be the final stage of your life — in the cases where someone has been diagnosed with the terminal illness. Or, it’s a privilege to care for you if you’ve been diagnosed with a mental illness and maybe it’s been difficult to treat. Let’s continue to work to find ways to treat this.”
A failure to do so would hurt society’s most vulnerable.
“Assisted suicide is both dangerous and inhumane, and I would say all the more so true of euthanasia, because it abandons vulnerable patients who need help, treatment efforts at healing, or when healing or cure is not possible, they need support and care.”

Untitled design (96)

Best Of 2025: Movement Barrels Forward To Euthanize 12 Year Old Children In Canada

Children

Recently, the Illinois legislature approved a bill that would legalize so-called physician-assisted suicide in the state. The bill now rests on Governor JB Pritzker’s desk, and he has until November 30 to decide whether to sign it into law.
He shouldn&#8217;t. In fact, he should veto it.
No matter how much advocates attempt to paint euthanasia as “compassionate,” the truth stands: Euthanasia, no matter what form it takes, creates a culture of death, jeopardizing — not protecting — the most vulnerable in society.
Look at Illinois’s bill, for example. If passed, it would allow physician-assisted suicides for individuals who are suffering from a terminal illness and have been given less than six months to live. As a result, advocates have painted it as a way for the already dying — and only the already dying — to secure “death with dignity.” 
Yet the bill limits do nothing to make it more ethical than legislation that allows for euthanasia of anyone at any time.  
Every human life has value, no matter how much time that life has left. Ending a life, no matter what stage that life is at, does not give it dignity — it devalues it, treating it as worthless and disposable. 
Even if that weren’t true, allowing assisted suicide in any circumstances lays the first stone in creating a “culture of death” that spreads throughout society. 
Look at Canada. While their assisted suicide program allegedly began to help people in extreme circumstances secure death with dignity, it’s now expanded so much that it allows for same-day suicide for a broad range of conditions, including mental illness. As a result, rates of suicide have grown exponentially, increasing 13-fold between 2016 and 2022 and totaling a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-system-services/annual-report-medical-assistance-dying-2023.html">shocking 15,343 in 2023</a>.  
Physician-assisted suicide has reached such a point in the U.K. that (former) Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9dn42xqg4o">said last year</a> that he “worried people would feel compelled to ask to die if they felt like a burden.” 
Any legalization of assisted dying “opens the way to it broadening out,” Welby said, causing people who aren’t terminally ill to ask for it or feel “pressured to ask for it.” 
That hurts the entire society — but it’s especially harmful to the most vulnerable, including those, like my daughter, with disabilities. In a society that treats life as meaningless and treats imposing a burden on someone else as a reason to die, those with disabilities and mental illnesses are sure to fall prey. 
In Canada, they already are — a fact highlighted in stories like that of Alan Nichols, a 61-year-old who was involuntarily committed and then euthanized within a month. Such stories paint a grim picture of a society that treats patients not as people, but as objects to be discarded; the second caring for them would require effort.  
Those with disabilities should know they don’t have to throw their life away simply because of the challenges their disability poses. Their lives have value. 
Ending a human life, any life, is wrong — regardless of whether that life belongs to someone close to death, to someone with a disability or mental illness, or to someone who simply feels isolated or lonely. Governor Pritzker should veto Illinois’ dangerous legislation and reaffirm the American principle that every human — no matter who they are — has a right to life.
* * *
Mary Vought is the Vice President of Strategic Communications of The Heritage Foundation and a former member of the National Council on Disability.
The Heritage Foundation is listed for identification purposes only. The views expressed here are personal and do not reflect an institutional position for The Heritage Foundation or its Board of Trustees.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at dailywire.com/blackfriday.

US-POLITICS-CRIME-TROOPS-CHICAGO

Illinois Is About To Legalize Assisted Suicide. Why Governor Pritzker Must Veto It.

Democrats

Illinois

J.B. Pritzker

Twin sisters Alice and Ellen Kessler, known in the entertainment world as the Kessler twins, both died by assisted suicide at the age of 89.
The sisters rose to fame in the 1950s and performed with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Rock Hudson, and Sammy Davis Jr., per <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/18/entertainment/kessler-twins-die-assisted-suicide-intl-scli">CNN</a>. They enlisted the help of the German Society for Humane Dying to commit suicide. 
“The decisive factor is likely to have been the desire to die together on a specific date,” society spokesperson Wega Wetzel told the outlet about their planned deaths. “Their desire to die was well-considered, long-standing, and free from any psychiatric crisis.”
Assisted suicide in certain circumstances has been legal in Germany since 2020.
During an <a href="https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/25_novembre_17/intervista-gemelle-kessler-morire-stesso-giorno-1a477229-e2ed-4a5a-b161-f3aae3d3exlk.shtml">interview</a> last year with the Italian outlet Corriere della Sera, the twin sisters <a href="https://www.corriere.it/spettacoli/25_novembre_17/intervista-gemelle-kessler-morire-stesso-giorno-1a477229-e2ed-4a5a-b161-f3aae3d3exlk.shtml">said</a> they were choosing assisted suicide because of their &#8220;desire is to go away together, on the same day. The idea of ​​one of us going first is very hard to bear.”
“They had been considering this option for some time. They had been members of the organization for over a year. A lawyer and a doctor conducted preliminary discussions with them,” the German Society for Humane Dying said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/news/kessler-twins-die-together-rcna244638">Today</a>. “People who choose this option in Germany must be absolutely clear-headed, meaning free and responsible. The decision must be thoughtful and consistent, meaning made over a long period of time and not impulsive.”
The Kessler sisters were born in Nazi Germany and escaped with their family from East Germany to West Germany in 1952. They launched their careers by performing at Lido in Paris, which was a popular place for cabaret performances. The twins went on to achieve international fame and also appeared on popular American television programs, including “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Dean Martin Show.”
The official Instagram account for “The Ed Sullivan Show” paid tribute to the sisters following their deaths, writing, “Honoring the extraordinary lives of the Kessler Twins. Alice &amp; Ellen were dazzling stars, true legends, and sisters whose grace, charm, and magic will shine forever.”
Assisted suicide is becoming increasingly more common around the world, with Canada leading the charge as the world leader in euthanasia. As The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canada-lost-over-15000-citizens-to-assisted-suicide-in-2023-now-britain-wants-in-on-the-action?author=Ashley+McGuire+and+Leigh+Fitzpatrick+Snead&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Canada+Lost+Over+15%2C000+Citizens+To+Assisted+Suicide+In+2023.+Now+Britain+Wants+In+On+The+Action.">reported</a>, assisted suicide accounts for one in 20 deaths in Canada. The country is also planning to start offering euthanasia to the mentally ill and to minors.

Alice and Ellen Kessler

Kessler Twins, Who Performed With Frank Sinatra, Die By Assisted Suicide On The Same Day

Celebrities

Death

Entertainment

Germany

President Donald Trump ends his Asia tour with a much-anticipated sit-down with China’s Xi Jinping, a scathing report on Joe Biden’s presidency casts doubt on key executive actions, and Canada&#8217;s government is pressured to include minors in its euthanasia program.
It’s Thursday, October 30, 2025, and this is the news you need to know to start your day. Today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below, and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mrn-251030-member-exclusive">the video version can be seen on The Daily Wire</a>:
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trumps-asia-trip-apex-bidens-autopen-presidency-10-30-25/id1576594336?i=1000734183688" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Trump V. Xi In South Korea</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/South-Korea-Summit.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The eyes of the world turned to South Korea, as President Trump sat down with China’s Xi Jinping for a high-stakes meeting.
Trump v. Xi: President Donald Trump cut tariffs on China overnight after President Xi Jinping promised to purchase large amounts of farm products from the United States and crack down on fentanyl trafficking. 
Trump said the tariff rate on China would be reduced from 57% to 47% after a high-stakes meeting at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in South Korea. In return, he said China promised to purchase American soybeans, sorghum, and other farm products and stop the flow of fentanyl into the United States.
“I had a truly great meeting with President Xi of China. There is enormous respect between our two Countries, and that will only be enhanced with what just took place,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the meeting. “We agreed on many things, with others, even of high importance, being very close to resolved.”
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.
Trump added that China had agreed to “continue the flow” of rare earth minerals used in products ranging from cell phones to fighter jets. China had been looking to implement strict export controls on the minerals.
The meeting began late Wednesday night by United States time. 
Just minutes before the meeting began, President Trump issued a stunning social media <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115460423936412555">post</a>, saying, “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.”
The U.S. has not tested any nuclear weapons for the last 33 years. The timing of that message is no accident. In the last week alone, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia had successfully tested nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable cruise missiles, along with a nuclear-capable torpedo. 
North Korea also claims to have conducted missile tests of its own. But this appears to be directed at Xi, who has overseen a historic nuclear buildup in China, growing its arsenal at an alarming pace. Despite that apparent warning, once Trump and Xi met just a few moments later, the two were all smiles, with Trump cracking a joke as they shook hands.
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Biden Autopen Questions Grow</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993373" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Signed-Without-Consent.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: The House Oversight Committee has recommended that the Justice Department investigate the Biden White House’s use of an autopen to sign official presidential actions. In a 100-page <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/release/oversight-committee-releases-report-on-the-biden-autopen-presidency/">report</a> released this week, Republicans charged Biden staffers with covering up for an increasingly senile president and taking action without his knowledge.
Republicans want the DOJ to take a deep look at former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen because many of the actions Biden took – or appeared to take – may not have been valid. Committee Chairman James Comer asked Attorney General Pam Bondi for a “comprehensive review of all executive actions taken during the Biden presidency.”
Comer also asked for special attention to be paid to White House doctor Kevin O’Connor, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, and senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal. They all pleaded the Fifth during the House investigation.
Comer v. O’Connor: Comer sent a letter to the D.C. Board of Medicine asking for a review of O&#8217;Connor’s work as the chief White House doctor. The report says testimony indicates that O’Connor “may have succumbed to political pressure” and hid Biden’s health decline from the American people.
Comer said the medical board should consider whether O’Connor “issu[ed] misleading medical reports, misrepresent[ed] treatments, or [failed] to conform to standards of practice” in violation of D.C. law. If any violations are found, the D.C. Board of Medicine could discipline O’Connor or even <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/10/28/us-news/biden-white-house-doctor-kevin-oconnor-referred-for-investigation-of-ex-prez-health-cover-up-could-lose-license/?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=nypost&amp;utm_source=twitter">revoke</a> his medical license.
&nbsp;
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Canada&#8217;s Growing Euthanasia Movement</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-993371" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Euthanasia-For-Minors.jpg 1920w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Topline: Canada’s euthanasia program is rapidly expanding, with some groups calling for minors as young as 12 years old to be included in the government-funded program. 
MAiD, or Medical Assistance in Dying, is effectively an euthanasia program funded by the Canadian government. It began in 2016 for people whose natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” and who wanted to end their lives. The program has only expanded since, particularly in 2021, when chronic illness and disability became included as reasons for someone to be euthanized. 
Since its inception, more people have undergone these procedures. Thousands of Canadians now do this annually.
Efforts to expand MAiD: Advocates want children 12 years and older to have access to MAiD. Current rules state that one must be 18 years old to be considered for this procedure.
The general argument is that children need more autonomy in health care, and the MAiD program is supposedly about “compassion.” Advocates also noted that minors can already consent or refuse certain treatments, so permitting this would be consistent. Finally, advocates will point to the Netherlands, where assisted dying for “mature minors” has been legal since 2002.
As for consent, one advocacy group called “Dying With Dignity Canada” recommends that minors between 12 and 15 years old have parental permission to be euthanized. It does not recommend that as a requirement for minors aged 16 and 17, however.
Morning Wire spoke to Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist, author, and a director at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, about the euthanasia movement.
“Once you cross the line of allowing doctors to kill patients, once you cross the line of accepting the basic premise of the euthanasia movement, which is that some lives are not worth living and therefore these people should be killed by the medical profession, then it&#8217;s very hard to argue that there should be any limitations to that,” said Kheriaty.
In addition to advocating for minors to be permitted in the program, there is a strong push to include people who suffer solely from mental health issues. That section is set to take effect in 2027. 
Euthanasia is not legal in the U.S.; however, several states do permit assisted suicide. This is a domestic movement that is worth watching closely and has undoubtedly been influenced by our neighbors up north.

MRN_251030_V3

Morning Brief: Trump Meets With Xi, Biden Autopen Probe, & A Growing Euthanasia Obsession

Morning Brief: South Korea Summit, Autopen Investigation, And Canada's Euthanasia Obsession

Donald Trump

James Comer

Joe Biden

Media

Morning Wire

Pam Bondi

Politics

South Korea

Xi Jinping

Earlier this summer, the House of Commons narrowly endorsed the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. The ensuing debate in the House of Lords, however, was both lopsided and fierce. Two days of impassioned speeches saw the lords oppose the measure by a two-to-one ratio. The surprisingly contested debate over the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill in Parliament’s Upper Chamber keeps hope alive. 
The Lords, it seems, are awake to the great menace of assisted suicide, a menace unleashed in Westminster this summer when the House of Commons approved euthanasia after decades of hitherto failed attempts.
 Alas, the Lords are now the last line of defense against assisted suicide, and this cold, hard fact did not seem lost on them.
We all have a stake in their cause and their courage. 
“When a nation adopts assisted suicide, it is as a neat procedure to tidy up some sad, messy cases,” Dan Hitchens recently <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-is-canada-euthanising-the-poor/">wrote</a>. “Later on they discover it is not a procedure but a living thing, a sea-monster devouring the shipwrecked — the disabled, the mentally ill, the guilt-ridden, the poor.”
Such were arguments from the floor of the House of Lords last week.
Baroness Claire Regina Fox tweeted her <a href="https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/lord/baroness-fox-of-buckley/bill/2024-26/terminallyilladultsendoflife">own speech</a> and said her hands <a href="https://x.com/RightToLifeUK/status/1969004265252311147">were trembling</a> as she spoke: “Our task is formidable because of how many norms the bill will overturn…The bill unsettles century old medical ethics. It rebrands assisting someone to die as a medical treatment.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
👀MUST WATCH! In a tour de force, Baroness Fox (<a href="https://twitter.com/Fox_Claire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fox_Claire</a>) laments “how many norms the Bill will overturn”.
Legalising assisted suicide will overturn our understanding of medical ethics and “shakes the foundations of society’s attitude to suicide”. Peers must not proceed. <a href="https://t.co/NwB7DPJGG3">pic.twitter.com/NwB7DPJGG3</a>
— Right To Life UK (@RightToLifeUK) <a href="https://twitter.com/RightToLifeUK/status/1969004265252311147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @RightToLifeUK/X.com
But she went on to note that the proposal also rebrands our understanding of suicide by giving it state sanction and labeling it “compassionate.” Up to now, we have always tried to restrain the man or woman in despair on the bridge with all our might: “All this reflects our deep humanistic intention that when a person acts to end their life it should be resisted with all the energy we can muster.”
“But what happens,” she asked, “when the state shouts, ‘Jump’?&#8221;
Some, like Baroness Victoria Prentis, spoke from a personal place. She <a href="https://x.com/VictoriaPrentis/status/1966903842848862469">tearfully</a> recalled her parents&#8217; “good deaths” in the peace of palliative care. Baroness Prentis also announced her own cancer diagnosis and her fear of becoming a “burden” to her family, even with all the support and comforts she enjoys. What pressures will all those without such support experience in a world of government-sanctioned assisted suicide?
 “I watched that final debate in the Commons,” she said, “and what struck me was that woman after woman, ethnic minority after ethnic minority, disabled people stood up and said, ‘[T]his bill is not good enough for my vulnerable community.’”
Others spoke from a professional point of view. Baroness Sheila Hollins, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z6AI-PEAxo">for example</a>, cited her 40-year career at the NHS as a general practitioner and psychiatrist. “Hospices should be our pride and joy, we are world leaders in palliative care,” she said. Yet, the “evidence from the association of palliative care shows slows in countries with assisted dying services.”
One lord was so passionate in his opposition to the proposal that he <a href="https://x.com/RightToLifeUK/status/1968744597200232627">delivered his speech from his home</a>, where he was recovering from a serious accident. Lord David Alton labelled the legislation a “bill of death” and said that the practice, while heinous, is “not a new one.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
📺MUST SEE: Much-loved peer <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidAltonHL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DavidAltonHL</a> is unable to speak at Second Reading of the assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords after sustaining spinal injuries in a bus crash.
Watch the speech he would have given: a passionate plea to reject the Bill &amp; protect the vulnerable. <a href="https://t.co/5LJfb94R3H">pic.twitter.com/5LJfb94R3H</a>
— Right To Life UK (@RightToLifeUK) <a href="https://twitter.com/RightToLifeUK/status/1968744597200232627?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @RightToLifeUK/X.com
“Euthanasia of the weak was practiced in the ancient world but was rejected as we became more civilized and recognized the equal and inherent worth of every person.” It reemerged in the 20th century with the advent of eugenics. Alton warned of the movement’s “pattern of creeping incrementalism” that threatens to ensnare everyone from infants to anorexics to diabetics.
Sad to say, he&#8217;s right.
We need not resort to dystopian fantasies of what would happen in states where suicide is legally sanctioned for some — or even for all. We need only look to Canada. As reported in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/09/canada-euthanasia-demand-maid-policy/683562/">The Atlantic</a> last month, it’s now a world leader in euthanasia. Assisted suicide accounts for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j1z14p57po">one</a> in 20 Canadian deaths and is available to even more categories of people. In fact, it will be available to the mentally ill beginning in two years, and the Canadian parliament has recommended it for children.
In parts of Europe, the mentally ill and children are already eligible for state-sanctioned assisted suicide. It isn’t just a slippery slope; a death march seems to be sweeping across parts of the West.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>
The House of Lords has the power to prevent Parliament from enacting what one of its members called a “legislative embodiment of a suicide influencer.” They’re defending all of us – and especially the most vulnerable – in fighting this battle.
In an earlier battle for the survival of Western civilization, one of Westminster&#8217;s most famous alumni, Winston Churchill, <a href="https://www.nationalchurchillmuseum.org/never-give-in-never-never-never.html">once said</a>, &#8220;Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.&#8221;
* * *
Ashley McGuire is a senior fellow at The Catholic Association.
Leigh Fitzpatrick Snead is a fellow at The Catholic Association.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Vote On Terminally Ill Adults Bill Is Held In UK Parliament

Canada Lost Over 15,000 Citizens To Assisted Suicide In 2023. Now Britain Wants In On The Action.

Canada Lost Over 15,000 Citizens To Assisted Suicide in 2023. Now Britain Wants In On the Action.

Great Britain

Parliament

The Dark Truth About Assisted Suicide Laws

England

Matt Walsh

Opinion

United Kingdom

If you were to guess at the number of people signing up for legal assisted suicide in Canada, you probably guess a few people a year, right? Maybe a few dozen at most?
Try 45,000 people — the population of Palm Springs, California.
That&#8217;s how many people have killed themselves through Canada&#8217;s Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) program since assisted suicide was legalized in 2016.
The number of deaths is still exploding, with thousands more people taking advantage of the program each year.
A total of 44,958 people have ended their lives through MAID over the seven years from 2016 to 2022, the last year with available data, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/medical-assistance-dying/annual-report-2022/annual-report-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Health Canada.
In the first year, 1,018 people died. That number nearly tripled the next year to over 2,800 people. Over the next few years, deaths continued to skyrocket, sometimes thousands each year. By 2020, the number of people killed had topped 10,000, and by 2022 the number had reached a whopping 13,241 people, 4.1% <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/hc-sc/documents/services/medical-assistance-dying/annual-report-2022/annual-report-2022.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of all</a> deaths in Canada that year.
Canada&#8217;s program has come under scrutiny for its liberal approach to approving applicants, especially people suffering from mental illness.
At first, only adults whose natural death is “reasonably foreseeable” could get approved. In 2021, Canada expanded it to adults whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable,” such as those with non-terminal illnesses and disabilities. In 2027 the program <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/ad-am/bk-di.html#:~:text=On%20February%201%2C%202024%2C%20the%20Government%20of%20Canada%20introduced%20a,and%20immediately%20came%20into%20force." target="_blank" rel="noopener">will be</a> expanded further to people whose sole reason for wanting to die is a mental health condition.
Already though, Canadians with a history of mental illness have been allowed to end their lives.
Alan Nichols, 61, was hospitalized in 2019 over fears he might be suicidal and asked his brother to “bust him out” as soon as possible. However, within a month he had applied for assisted suicide and was <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a>. He listed &#8220;hearing loss&#8221; as the one reason he wanted to die.
Another man, Amir Farsoud, 54, was living with agonizing chronic back pain and took depression and anxiety medication. He wanted to end his life using MAID in 2022 as he was unable to work and lived on government checks and felt there was no way to avoid homelessness when the shared house he rented was listed for sale.
He changed his mind, however, only after good Samaritans stepped up and raised more than $60,000 for him.
“I’m a different person,” Farsoud <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/canadian-man-changes-mind-about-assisted-suicide-after-good-samaritans-step-in" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “I had nothing but darkness, misery, stress and hopelessness. Now I have all the opposite of those things.”
Recently, a chilling exchange between Dr. Ellen Wiebe, who runs an assisted suicide clinic in Canada, and Liz Carr, a comedian, actress and disability rights campaigner made the rounds on social media.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The Canadian doctor Liz Carr interviews in this is one of the most frightening people I have ever seen. <a href="https://t.co/K9jL057Nyi">pic.twitter.com/K9jL057Nyi</a>
&mdash; Billy Bragg (@Serena_Partrick) <a href="https://twitter.com/Serena_Partrick/status/1842623436700450990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Carr has used a wheelchair ever since an illness when she was just seven years old and is a vocal opponent of assisted suicide. She is concerned about vulnerable people requesting assisted suicide or even feeling compelled to do so.
&#8220;Apart from the fact I don&#8217;t have the desire, I think probably I would be eligible under the Canadian law,&#8221; Carr <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68951037" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Wiebe.
Wiebe, who also runs an abortion clinic, said she has been involved in more than 400 deaths and called it &#8220;the very best work&#8221; she has ever done.
The clinician has <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/ive-helped-hundreds-to-die-my-patients-are-so-grateful-t5dzd5ssz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> a businesswoman diagnosed with dementia in her fifties, a military veteran with PTSD and chronic pain, and even a 56-year-old woman with advanced multiple sclerosis who starved herself to make sure her death was “reasonably foreseeable” back when that was a requirement of MAID.
Wiebe injects her patients with a lethal cocktail of drugs that causes unconsciousness, then cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Canada is not the only country where mentally ill people have been euthanized.
In the Netherlands, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-45117163" target="_blank" rel="noopener">several</a> different women in their 20s have been <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netherlands-sex-abuse-victim-euthanasia-incurable-ptsd-assisted-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">allowed</a> to die by assisted suicide based on mental suffering alone as well as a 28-year-old autistic woman who <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2024/02/02/lauren-hoeve-assisted-dying-suicide-postnatal-depression/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suffered</a> from chronic fatigue.
However, Canada&#8217;s law is one of the most loosely regulated, and the criticism has been fierce, swift, and global.
Earlier this year, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/01/27/canada-maid-euthanasia-death-assisted-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">urged</a> Canada to &#8220;rethink&#8221; its &#8220;risky expansion&#8221; of euthanasia, saying the upcoming expansion to mental illness &#8220;goes too far.&#8221;
&#8220;Many in the grips of psychiatric distress view, temporarily, suicide as their only way out, only to later be grateful they did not kill themselves in the depths of their suffering,&#8221; the editorial board wrote.
Canada’s law is “probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s,” <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-science-health-toronto-7c631558a457188d2bd2b5cfd360a867" target="_blank" rel="noopener">declared</a> Tim Stainton, director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia.
Even Pope Francis spoke out against the law during his trip to Canada, lamenting the “patients who, in place of affection, are administered death.”
Meanwhile, the bodies are piling up.

Side view of a man sitting in bedroom – negative emotion

Canada Will Soon Allow Assisted Suicide For Mental Illness. Deaths Are Already Exploding.

Ethics

Health Care

About a year ago, I <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1661477689767919617?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covered</a> the very sudden rise of euthanasia in Canada. As of 2022, the most recent year we have <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/publications/health-system-services/annual-report-medical-assistance-dying-2022.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data</a> available, euthanasia is now the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, accounting for one out of every 25 fatalities. That&#8217;s ahead of common conditions like liver disease, influenza, diabetes, and Alzheimer&#8217;s.
The number of so-called &#8220;assisted deaths&#8221; rose by more than 30% year-over-year, although precise metrics are getting hard to track. That&#8217;s because, going forward, Canada <a href="https://x.com/StatCan_eng/status/1729539259076334034?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> euthanasia deaths won&#8217;t be recorded as deaths caused by euthanasia. Instead, whatever reason the patient provides for seeking euthanasia will be recorded as the cause of death. So if you have a doctor kill you because you have arthritis, in Canada, that&#8217;s now classified as a death due to arthritis.
This coverup, like everything that has ever been attempted by the Canadian government, has failed miserably. Euthanasia is such an obviously booming industry that funeral homes have started <a href="https://www.city-journal.org/article/canadian-death-cult#:~:text=In%202022%2C%204.1%20percent%20of,Parliament%20first%20introduced%20MAID%20legislation." target="_blank" rel="noopener">offering</a> so-called &#8220;turn-key&#8221; <a href="https://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/f514affe-77c3-4052-ba88-e327c9ec6dc5%7C_0.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bundles</a>, in which people can kill themselves and then have a burial, all for one low price. There&#8217;s no need to have a terminal illness, either. Some Canadians are killing themselves because they <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12248669/Euthanasia-tightens-grip-West-Shocking-rise-doctor-assisted-suicides.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> it&#8217;s easier than getting disability benefits. The Canadian state-owned media loves this, of course. They <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/medically-assisted-death-could-save-millions-1.3947481" target="_blank" rel="noopener">claim</a> that euthanasia can save &#8220;millions&#8221; in health care costs.
This isn&#8217;t just happening in Canada. All over the western world, euthanasia is now more common than it&#8217;s ever been. The number of British citizens who signed up for &#8220;Dignitas,&#8221; a Swiss nonprofit that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47158287" target="_blank" rel="noopener">performs</a> euthanasia, increased by nearly 25% in 2023. In Switzerland, assisted deaths <a href="https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/life-aging/swiss-assisted-suicides-rose-11-in-2023/49198616" target="_blank" rel="noopener">jumped</a> by 11% last year. Meanwhile in Belgium, assisted suicide <a href="https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2024/02/27/euthanasia-cases-increase-by-15-per-cent-in-belgium-in-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> by more than 15%. Overall in Europe and Canada, euthanasia rates have increased by a quarter in just about 12 months.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1340-the-matt-walsh-show">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h4>
Over in South Australia, &#8220;medical assistance in dying&#8221; was <a href="https://www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/south_australia_marks_one_year_of_voluntary_assisted_dying#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWe%20know%20from%20other%20states,died%2C%20110%20from%20VAD%20administration." target="_blank" rel="noopener">legalized</a> a year ago, and the numbers of death permits they&#8217;re issuing are <a href="https://www.gogentleaustralia.org.au/latest_figures_from_south_australia_show_steady_increase_in_vad_permits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increasing</a> at a rate of around 20% per quarter. And those numbers are going to continue to rise, in part because the public broadcaster in Australia is running segments like this promoting euthanasia. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Palliative Care" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Kc34jPG1xk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Make a difference in someone&#8217;s life today, by killing them. Give them a little something &#8220;extra.&#8221; That&#8217;s the pitch in Australia, and it&#8217;s working.
As you&#8217;d expect, as euthanasia becomes more and more common all over the world, we&#8217;re hearing more disturbing stories.
For example, there was the Canadian woman who was <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/10118619/bc-cancer-agency-wait-times-surgery-united-states/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diagnosed</a> with cancer, only to be told by her doctors that she should consider euthanasia. She refused and fled to the United States, where she paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to receive treatment. Those are the kind of stories that make you realize there are a lot of very sick people in countries like Canada who don&#8217;t have a lot of money lying around. And they&#8217;re probably killing themselves. 
It&#8217;s hard to imagine this trend getting any more bleak but somehow, it does.
There&#8217;s an incredible new <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/im-28-and-im-scheduled-to-die?r=8ivfe&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web&amp;triedRedirect=true">story</a> in the Free Press about a 28-year-old woman in The Netherlands named Zoraya ter Beek. She plans to have a medical professional kill her sometime in May. That&#8217;s not because she has any kind of terminal illness. Instead, she&#8217;s been diagnosed with depression, autism, and borderline personality disorder. And on that basis, even though she lives in a nice house, with her boyfriend and her cats, she wants to die.
This woman appears to mean what she&#8217;s saying. She&#8217;s been highly visible in the Dutch press for many years, going as far back as 2017. And every time she&#8217;s appeared since then, she&#8217;s been promoting the idea of euthanasia or dying in some way. 
For example, in 2017, a Dutch website profiled Zoraya, <a href="https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/editienl/laatste-videos-editienl/video/50121/zoraya-22-draagt-niet-reanimerenpenning-respecteer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">writing</a>: 
<blockquote>Zoraya is 22 and does not want to be resuscitated if something happens to her. And of course she gets comments about that. More and more people are deciding to wear a do-not-resuscitate badge.</blockquote>
That same year, another Dutch outlet wrote an <a href="https://www.pzc.nl/bizar/zonder-juiste-medicijnen-wil-zoraya-22-uit-oldenzaal-niet-verder-leven~a6575e9e/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> about how Zoraya was planning her funeral.
Additionally, Zoraya has provided the Free Press with a photograph of the coffin she plans to use, including a picture of herself in the coffin. She also posted extensively about her plans on social media.
Confronted with all of this, Zoraya&#8217;s psychiatrists didn&#8217;t suggest any alternative. Instead, they told her she was doomed: 
<blockquote>[Zoraya] recalled her psychiatrist telling her that they had tried everything, that &#8216;there’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better.&#8217;</blockquote>
It&#8217;s hard to sum up the agenda of the pharmaceutical companies and the medical industry any better than that one line. &#8220;There&#8217;s nothing more we can do for you. It&#8217;s never gonna get any better.&#8221; I&#8217;m sure that&#8217;s a paraphrase, but it&#8217;s horrifying. This is a woman who&#8217;s not even 30-years-old and who has no physical issues whatsoever. Every single problem she has is in her head — and very vaguely defined. 
A term like “borderline personality disorder” is one we’re accustomed to hearing — and that many people have been diagnosed with — but very rarely does anyone stop to ask any fundamental questions about it. Questions like: How exactly can you diagnose a “personality” as “disordered.” What is a properly ordered personality? What personality is this woman supposed to have? Well, never mind. Whatever these disorders are, her doctors have prescribed suicide to cure them.
Because this is what happens now if the antidepressant drugs don’t work. Now they have another drug to permanently &#8220;fix&#8221; the problem. And conveniently, the same companies selling the antidepressants are also making the drugs that help kill people who realize the antidepressants don&#8217;t work too well. A company called Valeant Pharmaceuticals, now known as Bausch Health, made the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2019/12/11/my-terminally-ill-mother-wanted-end-her-own-life-what-would-it-take-fulfill-her-last-wish/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most commonly</a> used drug in physician-assisted suicides, called Seconal. As it happens, that same company also makes Wellbutrin, the 18th-most prescribed medicine in the United States, with millions of prescriptions. When it came out, it was billed as a second-line, heavy-hitting antidepressant that&#8217;s supposed to work where first-line SSRIs fail. But in the event the second-line antidepressant fails, now we know what the third line is. They&#8217;ll just kill you.
<h4><a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a></h4>
That should disturb most people. But it doesn&#8217;t — at least, not everywhere. One of the most revealing aspects of this Free Press article has been the reaction to it. In The Netherlands, there was outrage — not at the medical industry, but at the Free Press for covering the story. Zoraya shut down her social media accounts, claiming the Free Press article misrepresented her, without explaining how. A lot of her supporters in The Netherlands were also furious with the piece, saying it was a distorted view of what they call &#8220;medical assistance in dying.&#8221;
But in America, the reaction was different. Instead of writing puff pieces about Zoraya&#8217;s decision, many mainstream outlets presented it accurately — as a horrifying crime against humanity, and a betrayal of the most basic principle of medicine. 
Here&#8217;s how the author of The Free Press piece, Rupa Subramanya, <a href="https://x.com/rupasubramanya/status/1774949448956649542?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put it on X</a>: 
<blockquote>I&#8217;ve been struck by the reactions so far, some of which I anticipated. North Americans generally tend to be horrified at the Dutch acceptance of the right to die even for someone who is not terminally ill or their acceptance that there should be a more humane to commit suicide even when euthanasia is legal. The Dutch I spoke to find North Americans very conservative and religious when it comes to life and death.
The Netherlands is a post-religious society, and the comments from there are 180 degrees from what I&#8217;m getting from people in North America. We&#8217;re living in two different epistemic worlds at the same point in time, in cultures that descend from fundamentally the same Western roots coming from the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Protestant Reformation. There is overwhelming support for euthanasia, assisted dying and a more humane way to commit suicide in The Netherlands than anywhere else in the Western world.</blockquote>
What this tells us is that the contagion that has now completely overtaken Europe, and in particular countries like The Netherlands, may be reversible in this country. It may not have completely taken hold here. And there are other signs of that, as well.
For example, late last year, the American Medical Association&#8217;s house of delegates <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/american-medical-association-retains-opposition-to-assisted-suicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered</a> a resolution that would have officially endorsed the practice of euthanasia. Given the extent of the barbaric medical practices the AMA endorses already, it seemed likely that this resolution would pass. But as the National Catholic Register <a href="https://www.ncregister.com/cna/american-medical-association-retains-opposition-to-assisted-suicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>:
<blockquote>The House of Delegates of the American Medical Association &#8230; rebuffed an effort to change the organization’s current stance in opposition to physician-assisted suicide, a development that drew praise from members of the Catholic Medical Association, which advocated against the change.</blockquote>
This is a victory, obviously. But the fact this resolution was even proposed, and seriously considered, tells us we&#8217;re not very far removed from The Netherlands. It suggests that, unless the underlying causes of this trend are resolved, it will overtake this country as well. And the underlying causes — the reason young people are killing themselves — is that hope and a sense of purpose are becoming rare in modern society. That&#8217;s true both here and in Europe.
Now that euthanasia offers a seemingly easy and &#8220;painless&#8221; way out, more and more people, at younger and younger ages, will take advantage of it. They&#8217;ll be put on antidepressants that don&#8217;t work, and then suicide drugs after that. Somehow, the drug companies will suggest that, even though they&#8217;ve sold SSRIs that accomplish nothing, you should still trust them when they say that their euthanasia drug is the solution.
This is a pitch that only works when people have been lied to for years, and become profoundly confused about this basic fact: Life is not easy. Nobody is happy all the time. But we are alive for a reason. If we feel like life is meaningless, it’s not because life has no meaning, it’s just that we struggle to see it. The solution is to help those people see the meaning in life.
Pharma companies like Bausch Health are not providing that solution. They aren’t trying to help people in their despair. They’re only trying to profit off of it.

Surgeon, physician performs surgical operations, anesthetist or anesthesiologist holding patient’s hand ffor checking state of mand or support in ER room, Medical healthcare concept

The Euthanasia Business Is Booming As Western Civilization Gives Up On Itself

Big Pharma

Readers Pass

Social Issues

The Netherlands

Western civilization has a major problem: Every societal ill that had been taken off the table by generations of received wisdom has now come back and come roaring back to life stronger than ever. 
The latest example of this is exemplified in a <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/im-28-and-im-scheduled-to-die">piece</a> by Rupa Subramanya in Bari Weiss’ Free Press that speaks of the spates of suicide and euthanasia growing in the West. 
The piece speaks of Zoraya ter Beek, 28, who expects to be euthanized in early May and plans to be cremated:
<blockquote>She said she was hobbled by her depression and autism and borderline personality disorder. Now she was tired of living—despite, she said, being in love with her boyfriend, a 40-year-old IT programmer, and living in a nice house with their two cats. 
She recalled her psychiatrist telling her that they had tried everything, that “there’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better.” At that point, she said, she decided to die. “I was always very clear that if it doesn’t get better, I can’t do this anymore.”</blockquote>
She is not the only one, unfortunately. Euthanasia is becoming incredibly common across the West. 
In the United States, euthanasia has jumped from 2018 to 2021 by 53% and in Canada by 125%.
Increasingly, the West is legalizing euthanasia for people who are clearly not terminal. For example, Lauren Hoeve. As the piece explains: 

<blockquote>On November 30, 2022, Hoeve, a Dutch YouTube creator who was then 27, took to her newly created blog, Brain Fog, to <a href="https://hersenmist.wordpress.com/2022/11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announce</a> that she wanted to die. She explained that she had autism, ADHD, ARFID (a.k.a. avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder), depression, anxiety, a “history of complex trauma,” and, since 2019, myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome. She added that she had registered with the <a href="https://expertisecentrumeuthanasie.nl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Euthanasia Expertise Center</a>, in The Hague, to get the ball rolling.</blockquote>
She then committed suicide. She was 28. 
This sort of stuff is becoming more and more common. 
And it&#8217;s not just this social malady that is plaguing the West. Drug abuse is plaguing the West. 128 million Americans report having used marijuana at some point in their lifetime. It&#8217;s worth noting that marijuana today is significantly more addictive and more dangerous than marijuana when you were a kid. 
Pornography is not only widespread in its availability, but also in its use and its addiction. The latest stats show that about 70% of American men view pornography. 24% of American women say they view pornography as well. The number of people who admit to being addicted is actually quite high. The impacts of pornography on the human brain are very much like drug addiction. There&#8217;s a dopamine release, it wears off, and then people want more of the dopamine. And so they go back to the pornography. 
This empties out relations. It destroys the relationship between men and women. Men begin to see women as sexual objects in a way different than would normally be the case. It disconnects them from other human beings.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1939-our-unaliving-civilization-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
We see this with regard to major societal issues like family formation and childbearing. 31% of women aged 30 to 34 in the United States are childless now, which is much higher than ever in the United States. When it comes to LGBTQ+- identity, fully 22.3% of Gen Z say they are LGBTQ+- .
That has tremendous societal impact. It turns out that when one-fifth of your population suggests that they are no longer going to engage in monogamous heterosexual relationships with the goal of family formation, it has a major impact on your civilization. 
So what exactly is going on? Why are all of these social maladies suddenly cropping up? Social epidemics are spreading through the population like wildfire. But in order for that epidemic to actually take hand, the systemic immunity of a society has to be compromised. 
What was the immunity to all of these sorts of bad ideas? The answer for literally hundreds of years was religion. Not just because people believed in God, but because there are two particular facts about religion that are deeply necessary to understand the beneficial and salutary effects of religion on a society. 
One: Religion takes certain moral matters off the table. It says, “God says X, therefore don&#8217;t do X.” Why is that important? It&#8217;s important because when you&#8217;re talking about time-tested wisdom, one reason why any society might say something like, “God says &#8216;thou shalt not murder&#8217;” is because it takes the subject off the table for debate. Once God says it, you don&#8217;t need to come up with an independent rationale as to why it&#8217;s not okay to murder. 
The reality is that when it comes to the vast majority of rules we abide by in society, those are rules not because somebody sat somewhere in a cave and came up with a rationale for the rule, but because over trial and error, over evolutionary long periods of time, those are rules that have been found to be effective. 
You don&#8217;t have to explain why it works. You just have to know that it does work.
One of the great lies that the Enlightenment told us is that every single thing that was good required a rationale. 
That’s not even the same way that science typically works. People tend to think that science works by having a theoretician in the lab who comes up with a theory and then the theory has practical ramifications. 
Very often it&#8217;s the reverse. Very often the inventions that we use come from someone tinkering in their garage and doing trial and error until something worked. They may not even know why it worked. They just know that it did. 
That’s the first thing religion does. 
The second thing it does is to create the social fabric necessary to enforce those rules without a top-down state. It creates the intermediate institutions of society that act as an enforcement mechanism. 
If you violate the rule of society, for example, that says that you should get married and have kids and live within the boundaries of the church, the rest of the members of the church might not want you at the church. You&#8217;re not going to be part of that particular social fabric. 
That is necessary. Any society has to have rules that are enforced by social censure.
But both of the things religion provided have been dissolved. We have become the “touch the stove” civilization. 
When you teach your very young kids to avoid touching the stove you don&#8217;t explain, “Certain objects are hot. When you touch a hot object, you get burned.” You say, “Don&#8217;t touch the stove. And if you touch the stove, there will be a consequence.” 
We as a society have decided that anything we can&#8217;t explain requires us to touch the stove. So we&#8217;re going to touch the stove on everything. 
So things that we&#8217;re just common-sense propositions — such as “It is good that you get married and have children” — we as a society decided to ask, “Why not alternatives? What&#8217;s wrong with alternatives? Why can&#8217;t all alternatives be treated as perfectly equivalent?” 
The answer to that is that it fails. Society fails when you don&#8217;t have man, woman, child. End of story. Societies that don&#8217;t focus on man, woman, child fall apart because that is the basis of every functional civilization. But we decided because we couldn’t come up with a rationale, why we shouldn&#8217;t we have man, man, no child, or woman, woman, no child?
We touched the stove. The result is widespread childlessness; breakdown in family formation, destruction of existing families, children born into families where they&#8217;re not really families, just a mom and a kid, because dad is nowhere to be seen.
That has resulted in many more social maladies. We had to touch the stove when it came to drug use. We as a society had decided that it would be bad if huge swaths of the population ingested hallucinogenic drugs.
<h4><a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP</a></h4>
And then we decided, well, what if we tried it? What if we touch the stove? Maybe it&#8217;ll be fine. How do we know? 
And so the time-tested wisdom that favored sobriety was thrown out the window in favor of something different. Has it been salutary in its effect on young Americans? I would suggest the answer is no. 
We used to say that engaging in pornography ought to be illicit, that it is bad that when you view pornography, it does something to your brain that is not good, it perverts your view of the opposite sex, of sex itself and of relationships. And then we decided, “Oh, but really, is it going to be that bad? What, are you just a prude, man? Can you find a rationale for your prudishness?”
The response used to be, “I don&#8217;t have to find a rationale. It&#8217;s gross and bad and you shouldn&#8217;t do it. It&#8217;s bad for your soul, and it&#8217;s bad for you.”
And that was accepted wisdom for literally hundreds of years.
And then we decided to touch the stove and find out what happens.
This has had incredibly negative effects on our civilization.

Menu