Assisted Suicide is Creating a “Death on Demand” Society in America

I once heard a preacher say that you become what you worship. This is difficult to dispute as we witness a nation increasingly willing to consent to a culture of death rather than embrace the blessings that come from caring for our most vulnerable in our society.

Historically, prejudice against those deemed physically or mentally inferior has often led to efforts to eliminate them. However, this belief is not only confined to the past. Though perhaps less overtly, we are once again repeating history.

It is undeniable that the killing of the vulnerable has taken a firm hold in our culture, ranging from the legal dehydration and starvation of the brain-injured and elderly – including my sister, Terri Schiavo – to the steady expansion of doctor-assisted suicide. All of this is sold as mercy, compassion, “dying with dignity,” and, most commonly, the claim that we must relieve “suffering.” Make no mistake: doctor-assisted suicide is the practice in which a physician prescribes lethal drugs with the explicit intent of poisoning a person to death.

Although one can debate which forces behind the expansion of this nihilistic worldview, at its core lies a rejection of Jesus Christ and of the truth that every human person is created in God’s divine image and must therefore be treated accordingly.

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In today’s increasingly self-centered culture, human dignity is often disregarded, with decisions about who should live or die – or who is even worthy of care – being made according to subjective human judgment. Simultaneously, we have abandoned our responsibility to care for our most vulnerable brothers and sisters.

Recent developments reveal this steady shift toward a “death-on-demand” society. On December 8, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed legislation legalizing doctor-assisted suicide after the state legislature passed Senate Bill 1950 (S.B. 1950)

In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul stated in January that she intends to sign similar legislation, which was passed this spring. This would make New York the 13th state to authorize doctor-assisted suicide. In explaining her position, Hochul said, “I was taught that God is merciful and compassionate, and so must we be.”

This loss of moral clarity is not imagined; is clearly evident in whom our institutions choose to honor and praise. Last month, Medicine at Michigan recognized Michigan pathologist Jack Kevorkian – better known as “Doctor Death” – for “making a difference internationally” and “helping to serve the world.” In reality, Kevorkian became infamous for assisting in the suicides of more than 130 patients, many of whom were not terminally ill.

He constructed homemade killing devices, filmed deaths, and openly defied laws intended to protect vulnerable people, recasting death as a form of medical treatment. Rather than advancing healing, Kevorkian turned medicine into a mechanism of death, fundamentally distorting the role of a physician.

Before his death in 2011, Kevorkian was paid a reported $50,000 to speak at the University of Florida. His audience largely consisted of students aged 18 to 25, an age group for whom suicide remains one of the leading causes of death. Elevating Kevorkian and allowing him to normalize assisted suicide among such a vulnerable population was not merely reckless; it was criminal.

Such a willingness has powerful consequences. When figures such as Kevorkian are honored rather than repudiated, policies that once seemed unthinkable become easier to advance both in the United States and abroad.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Canada, which legalized doctor-assisted suicide in 2016. What followed should have served as a clear warning of what happens once this practice is permitted – a warning that should have halted efforts by Governors Hochul and Pritzker to bring it to their own citizens.

Canadian law initially limited doctor-assisted suicide to terminally ill patients as a narrow, compassionate exception. Yet it has rapidly expanded to include people who are not terminally ill, those with chronic disabilities, and individuals suffering from mental illness alone. Next spring, Canada is expected to consider extending eligibility to minors. What began as a narrow exception has now evolved into one of the world’s broadest state-sanctioned assisted-death regimes.

In fact, reports indicate that Canada’s government-controlled healthcare system and its medical assistance in dying (MAID) policies could result in the euthanasia of an estimated 15 million Canadians between 2027 and 2047 – a staggering figure justified under the pretext of cost savings.

Take, for example, Jolene Van Alstine, a Canadian woman suffering from a rare and debilitating condition who has been unable to qualify for the specialized surgery she needs to relieve extreme chronic pain. After years of limited options and difficulty obtaining treatment, she applied for MAID under Canada’s assisted‑suicide law. She says this is not a choice she truly wants, but sees it as her only available option in the absence of possible treatment. In other words, death in the place of care.

Sadly, most Americans have forgotten that this grim pattern has already appeared in Oregon, one of the first U.S. states to legalize doctor-assisted suicide. In 2008, cancer patients Randy Stroup and Barbara Wagner became high-profile examples when their state-sponsored health insurance covered assisted suicide but not the chemotherapy they sought. These cases were not anomalies; they were early warnings.

While no single study has formally connected assisted suicide laws to rising suicide rates, the broader trend is clear: over the past two to three decades, the U.S. suicide rate has risen as more states have legalized doctor-assisted suicide.

The danger is not hypothetical. Suicide contagion is real. When doctors, who are sworn to do no harm, are asked to prescribe lethal drugs and present death as a solution to suffering; when legislatures debate whether certain lives are disposable; when protections weaken for the elderly, people with disabilities, veterans, the poor, and those suffering from depression or loneliness; and when crisis hotlines and suicide‑prevention efforts are undermined or ignored, moral clarity erodes. Notably, when moral clarity erodes, lives are lost as suicide rates continue to rise.

Christianity offers a vision starkly at odds with prevailing cultural narratives: it affirms that human life has intrinsic dignity, regardless of illness or suffering. This belief is not merely religious; it is a moral anchor at a time when we are adrift.

Indeed, this anchor is important. Societies need shared moral guardrails to protect the vulnerable. Genuine compassion does not eliminate the sufferer; it walks with them through suffering by investing in mental health care, pain management, family support, and community presence.

Moreover, doctor-assisted suicide violates our relationship with Christ since it rejects the truth that every life is sacred, entrusted to us by God, and therefore not disposable at our convenience. A culture that supports death aligns itself with the enemy of Christ, whose aim is to destroy hope, dignity, and the human soul.

The only way to confront and defeat this culture of death is to turn back and venerate Jesus Christ, who has already conquered death and offers life, meaning, and redemption.

LifeNews Note: Bobby Schindler and his family work as patient advocates, establishing the non-profit Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network in honor of his sister, Terri. Click here to learn more about the Life & Hope Network.