Tag: euthanasia

Macron Officially Signs France’s New Assisted Dying Law

French President Emmanuel Macron officially promulgated France’s controversial new assisted dying law on Wednesday morning.

The legislation, published through France’s Official Journal on August 19, contains 19 articles establishing the right to assisted dying for French nationals or long-term residents, under the terms and conditions established therein by the new law.

Le Monde reports the French government must now publish the necessary decrees for local healthcare workers can put the now-official law into practice.

To receive assisted dying in France, a French national or long-term resident must be of legal age, suffer from what the law describes as a “serious and incurable” illness in its terminal or advanced stage, and be capable of making an informed choice up until the last moment, among other conditions.

As per the law’s terms, an evaluation process conducted by a single physician, with input from other parties, will determine who is edible for assisted dying. A healthcare profesional may administer a lethal substance should a patient be physically unable to do so on their own.

The official promulgation of the assisted dying law comes after years of back-and-forth parliamentary debates and widespread condemnation from the French Catholic Church and other groups opposing to the practice. President Macron reiterated in July that the legalization of assisted dying in France was a “promise” of his administration.

France now other countries such as Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Uruguay in the list of countries that has legalized assisted dying, among others.

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Ontario family says 83-year-old grandmother received MAID without final verbal consent

An Ontario family is raising serious questions about Canada’s rapidly expanding medical assistance in dying system after alleging their 83-year-old grandmother was euthanized despite previously rejecting MAID and failing to give a final verbal confirmation before the procedure.

Brigitte Stegemann died by lethal injection on July 10 at The Pearl, formerly E.J. McQuigge Lodge, a long-term care facility in Belleville, Ontario, according to an account first reported by LifeNews.

Stegemann had been diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer approximately five months before her death.

According to her family, Stegemann had been asked about medical assistance in dying roughly two months before her death and “clearly stated that she did not wish to pursue it.”

A devout Christian, Stegemann reportedly said MAID conflicted with her religious beliefs and that she wanted to die naturally.

Her granddaughter, also named Brigitte, held power of attorney and had acted as Stegemann’s primary caregiver and advocate for more than 12 years. The family says staff routinely contacted her regarding medications, treatment and other care decisions.

However, while the granddaughter was away on a 10-day vacation, the family alleges facility staff held private discussions with Stegemann about MAID without informing her family or advocate.

The family says this was particularly concerning because Stegemann had severe hearing impairment and periods of lethargy and unresponsiveness.

During a capacity assessment on July 6 and 7, Stegemann reportedly gave incorrect answers to basic questions about her own life. When asked whether she had siblings, she allegedly said she had none, despite being the second-youngest of 14 children. She also reportedly said none of her siblings remained alive, although some were still living and she had recently spoken with one.

According to the family, Stegemann became confused and began crying during the assessment, at one point saying, “I forgot about the grandkids.”

Her family says they corrected many of her answers and directly challenged how she could be considered capable of providing informed consent to her own death.

The physician nevertheless determined Stegemann was capable of making the decision, according to the family’s account.

The procedure was scheduled for July 10.

The family also alleges the date was selected before official MAID application paperwork had been completed and that facility staff subsequently completed and witnessed the paperwork without informing Stegemann’s power of attorney.

The family’s most serious allegation concerns what happened immediately before Stegemann’s death.

According to Life News, they say they had been specifically assured Stegemann would be required to give a final, explicit verbal confirmation on the day of the procedure that she still wanted to proceed.

On July 10, however, the family says Stegemann remained silent when the physician arrived, with her hands held in a prayer position.

“Tragically, we were left alarmed and horrified when the clinical team completely ignored her silence and carried the procedure forward regardless,” the family said in its public statement.

Stegemann died shortly afterward.

The family characterized what happened as “a systemic failure driven by clinical arrogance, a total lack of transparency, and a blatant disregard for the safeguards meant to protect vulnerable patients.”

The allegations have not been tested in court, and the account does not include responses from the physician or long-term care facility.

The case comes as the number of Canadians dying through MAID continues to grow significantly.

Canada legalized medical assistance in dying in 2016. According to Health Canada’s latest annual report, 16,499 people received MAID in 2024, accounting for 5.1 percent of all deaths in the country.

That was up from 15,343 MAID deaths in 2023 and 13,241 in 2022.

The growth since legalization has been substantial. Health Canada recorded 1,018 assisted deaths in 2016, followed by 2,838 in 2017, 4,478 in 2018, 5,660 in 2019 and 7,595 in 2020. The annual total surpassed 10,000 for the first time in 2021.

By the end of 2024, more than 76,000 Canadians had died through MAID since legalization.

Health Canada has not yet published complete national annual-report figures for 2025 or 2026, meaning claims that Canada’s cumulative MAID total has now surpassed 100,000 are not yet confirmed by the latest comprehensive federal data.

The Stegemann family is calling for greater transparency, mandatory involvement of family advocates in cases involving cognitively vulnerable patients and stricter accountability surrounding MAID safeguards.

Roughly one in every 20 deaths in Canada is now occurring through MAID.

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Court Shields Catholic Nuns, Healthcare Ministries from New York Assisted Suicide Law

A district court on Thursday blocked New York from enforcing its assisted suicide law against four orders of Catholic nuns and several Catholic healthcare ministries as their religious liberty lawsuit continues. 

The temporary agreement, which New York agreed to, will shield the Catholic nuns and ministries from being forced to take any part in assisted suicides when the law legalizing the practice goes into effect on Wednesday, attorneys with Becket Fund for Religious Liberty announced. The agreement will be in effect while the court considers their request for a preliminary injunction. 

“Forcing Catholic nuns to participate in suicide—and robbing New Yorkers of the choice to receive faithful, life-affirming care—is both unlawful and unjust,” said Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the healthcare ministries. “This agreement protects the sisters and those they care for while we fight to end New York’s suicide mandate for good.”

The groups — including the Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, the Benedictine Sisters, the Little Sisters, Bishop John Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Catholic Health — are suing over part of the law that requires them to provide referrals to patients who are interested in assisted suicide. While the 2026 law contains a religious liberty exception, it requires objecting parties to send interested patients to providers who will enable the suicide to occur, thus still mandating some form of facilitation. 

The complaint asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to block the law before it takes effect on August 5. The lawsuit alleges that if the law goes into effect, healthcare providers who refuse to take part in counseling and referrals for assisted suicides will face significant fines, professional sanctions, and even criminal penalties.

The lawsuit accuses New York of violating core constitutional protections for religious freedom and freedom of speech by compelling Catholic nuns and ministries to either violate their faith or risk state punishment.

“There is a tendency in our society to treat the elderly as if they are a burden,” Mother Alice Marie Monica of the Little Sisters of the Poor said in a statement. “This temporary protection allows us to keep showing them that they are wanted, loved, and precious in God’s eyes.”

In February, New York became the 13th state, plus Washington, DC, to legalize assisted suicide. The “Medical Aid in Dying” or MAID bill allows assisted suicide for terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live.

Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement at the time of the bill’s signing equating assisted suicide with “freedoms” and a “right to bodily autonomy” — a similar argument used by pro-abortion and pro-transgender activists who promote mutilation and the killing of unborn babies.

The groups — including the Carmelite Sisters, the Dominican Sisters, the Benedictine Sisters, the Little Sisters, Bishop John Barres of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, and Catholic Health — are suing over part of the law that requires them to provide referrals to patients who are interested in assisted suicide. While the 2026 law contains a religious liberty exception, it requires objecting parties to send interested patients to providers who will enable the suicide to occur, thus still mandating some form of facilitation. 

The complaint asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York to block the law before it takes effect on August 5. The lawsuit alleges that if the law goes into effect, healthcare providers who refuse to take part in counseling and referrals for assisted suicides will face significant fines, professional sanctions, and even criminal penalties.

The lawsuit accuses New York of violating core constitutional protections for religious freedom and freedom of speech by compelling Catholic nuns and ministries to either violate their faith or risk state punishment.

“There is a tendency in our society to treat the elderly as if they are a burden,” Mother Alice Marie Monica of the Little Sisters of the Poor said in a statement. “This temporary protection allows us to keep showing them that they are wanted, loved, and precious in God’s eyes.”

In February, New York became the 13th state, plus Washington, DC, to legalize assisted suicide. The “Medical Aid in Dying” or MAID bill allows assisted suicide for terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live.

Democrat New York Gov. Kathy Hochul released a statement at the time of the bill’s signing equating assisted suicide with “freedoms” and a “right to bodily autonomy” — a similar argument used by pro-abortion and pro-transgender activists who promote mutilation and the killing of unborn babies.

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New York Legalizes Assisted Suicide as ‘Medical Aid in Dying’ Law Takes Effect This Week

New York will become the latest state to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to patients when its Medical Aid in Dying Act takes effect on Wednesday, allowing eligible adults to request and administer drugs to assist them in committing suicide.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed the legislation into law on February 6, following years of debate, making New York the 14th U.S. jurisdiction to permit the practice.

Under the statute, a mentally capable adult resident of New York who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness expected to result in death within six months may obtain a prescription for life-ending medication after meeting a series of procedural requirements.

To qualify, the patient must be at least 18 years old, a New York resident, and confirmed by both an attending physician and a consulting physician to have an incurable and irreversible condition that will produce death within six months.

Under the law, the individual must demonstrate decision-making capacity and make a voluntary, informed request free of coercion.

The process requires an oral request that is audio or video recorded and permanently stored in the medical record, followed by a signed written request witnessed by two people who cannot benefit financially from the patient’s death.

A mandatory evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist is required to confirm capacity, and a five-day waiting period applies between the writing and filling of the prescription unless the attending physician determines the patient is likely to die sooner.

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CULTURE OF DEATH: French Lawmakers Approve New Assisted Dying Bill

In the beginning, ‘strict conditions’ – after that, ‘anything goes.’

Around the world, new initiatives are popping up to establish initiatives regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide, despite the real tragedy that those policies are imposing on the societies that have adopted them.

Now, the culture of death is making a landing in France.

French lawmakers voted today (15) to approve a bill creating a ‘legal right to assisted dying for adults with incurable ​illnesses.’

This is the culmination of what the press calls ‘an intense ethical and political debate.’

As it happens in the infancy of such laws, the legislation imposes ‘strict conditions’ to allow a person to receive a lethal substance.

After those laws catch on, it’s like the Great White North, as you can read in CANADA OUT OF CONTROL: Woman With Back Pain Goes to the Hospital, Is Horrified as Doctor Offers Her Assisted Suicide.

In France’s case, the substance could be self-administered (assisted suicide) or, if the person is physically unable to do so, administered by a doctor or nurse (euthanasia).

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The Looming Shadow of the “Useless Class”

Harari’s Warning: A New “Useless Class” Emerges

In influential circles tied to global institutions, a chilling phrase has entered the conversation: the rise of a “useless class.” Historian and World Economic Forum advisor Yuval Noah Harari has repeatedly warned that rapid advances in artificial intelligence and automation will render vast numbers of people economically irrelevant. In his book Homo Deus and various public statements, Harari describes this emerging group not merely as unemployed but as unemployable, stripped of meaningful contributions to the economic and political systems that define modern power.

Superfluous People: What Happens When AI Replaces Humanity

He has pointed out that in the 21st century, the central economic question may become what to do with “superfluous people” once algorithms outperform humans in most tasks. This is not abstract futurism. It reflects observable trends: AI already displaces roles in manufacturing, transportation, customer service, coding, analysis, and creative fields. Entire professions face obsolescence. When millions cannot secure stable employment, societies risk labelling them burdens rather than citizens with inherent worth.

Echoes of “Useless Eaters”: From Nazi Eugenics to Modern Efficiency

This language echoes darker historical precedents. The term “useless eaters” originated in early 20th-century eugenics and Nazi propaganda, where authorities deemed the disabled, elderly, or unproductive as drains on resources unworthy of life. Those regimes justified sterilization, euthanasia, and gruesome experiments on living humans deemed irrelevant, using economic and efficiency as grounds. While today’s discussions avoid explicit calls for elimination, the underlying logic of sorting human value by productivity should alarm anyone who values individual dignity.

Schwab’s Fourth Industrial Revolution: Mass Redundancy Ahead

Harari’s warnings align with broader elite conversations about technological disruption. Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, has addressed the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its potential to create redundancy for many workers. The concern is real: without robust adaptation, large segments of the population could become dependent on state or corporate systems, vulnerable to control.

Georgia Guidestones: The Elite Blueprint for Drastic Population Cuts

This feeds into visions of a restructured world. The Georgia Guidestones, a controversial monument erected in 1980 in Georgia and later destroyed, laid out ten guiding principles for humanity. Its first commandment declared: “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.” That explicit target of drastic population reduction (over 90%) has fueled suspicions about long-term agendas among some influential figures who see overpopulation as a crisis. It underscores a mindset that prioritizes global limits over unfettered human flourishing.

15-Minute Cities and Depopulation: Easier Rule Over Fewer Subjects

Critics argue that depopulation pressures, whether through policy, technology, or subtle incentives, serve a strategic purpose. A smaller global population would make centralized rule far simpler for oligarchs and technocrats. Concepts like 15-minute cities, promoted as sustainable urban planning where residents access work, food, healthcare, and leisure within a short walk or bike ride, illustrate the point. Proponents highlight reduced emissions and convenience. Yet skeptics see them as prototypes for contained zones: easier to monitor, restrict movement within or between, and enforce compliance through digital systems and surveillance. In a depopulated world with AI handling production, the need for expansive human labor and freedom of movement diminishes. Elites could manage compact, dependent populations more effectively, where dissent or excess can be easily isolated.

AI Job Apocalypse: Creating the Perfect Storm of Control

The fusion of AI-driven job loss and these control-oriented frameworks paints a grim picture. Displaced workers, stripped of purpose and economic agency, risk being recast as “useless” burdens in the eyes of systems optimized for efficiency. Harari himself has noted the profound inequality this could create, with a small elite of data owners and tech masters holding unprecedented power over the masses.

Euthanasia Explosion: From Terminally Ill to Depressed, Mentally Ill, and Children

Compounding these concerns is the rapid expansion of euthanasia laws across several nations. What began as a limited option for the terminally ill has broadened dramatically to encompass the depressed, mentally ill, and even children. In Canada, Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) has surged since its introduction in 2016. By 2024, there were 16,499 reported MAiD provisions, accounting for over 5 percent of all deaths in the country, with cumulative totals nearing 76,000. Cases increasingly include individuals with non-terminal conditions, disabilities, and vulnerabilities tied to poverty or isolation. In the Netherlands, total euthanasia deaths reached 9,958 in 2024, a 10 percent rise from the prior year. Psychiatric cases alone jumped to 219 from 138 in 2023, with a sharp increase among younger people under 30. Belgium and other jurisdictions show similar patterns of extending to minors. This normalization risks categorizing those with chronic illness, depression, or mental health challenges as burdens on the system. It reinforces the “useless eaters” logic by offering death as a solution to suffering that could instead prompt investment in care, community support, and human dignity. Such policies align conveniently with broader depopulation narratives, reducing pressure on resources while framing elimination as compassion.

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Child under age of 12 euthanised in the Netherlands for the first time after law change

A seriously ill child under the age of 12 has been euthanised in the Netherlands for the first time after a law change two years ago.

In a letter to parliament, Dutch health minister Sophie Hermans said that the child had died last year but did not clarify their age, date of death or the illness that they suffered, according to broadcaster NOS.

The law in the Netherlands was changed in 2024 to extend euthanasia to children under the age of 12 to allow them to “die with dignity” if there was no route to escape extremely severe pain or suffering.

Previously the procedure had only been permissible for newborns and children aged over 12. Patients under the age of 18 require the consent of a parent or guardian.

Under euthanasia laws, a person must be in a state of intolerable suffering with no realistic hope of relief and it should only be applied in exceptional and extreme circumstances.

In order to undergo the procedure, a doctor must persuade the authorities that euthanasia is appropriate and that there is no humane alternative. The threshold is extremely high when applying the legislation to young children.

Hermans said that the review committee has examined the case and spoken to the doctor involved, according to NOS.

The committee’s judgment has been forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service (OM) who must ultimately determine whether the doctor acted in accordance with the law. The recommendation of the review committee will be made public shortly, she explained.

When the rule was changed it was expected only to apply to around five children every year.

“Euthanasia is only allowed for patients whose unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement has a medical dimension,” government guidance says.

“Termination of life is only allowed if a child is terminally ill and is suffering unbearably with no prospect of improvement.

“This means the child is in constant, severe pain. And that there is no cure, and no reasonable alternative to relieve the child’s suffering, even through palliative care.

“In this situation, the doctor may decide, together with the parents, to terminate the child’s life. This decision is always made in consultation with the parents and, if possible, also with the child.”

In the UK, a bill to allow adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death – subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel – will return to the House of Commons this September.

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Netherlands Euthanizes Child Under 12 for First Time After Law Expansion Allowing it for Children as Young as ONE YEAR OLD

A terminally ill child under the age of 12 was euthanized in the Netherlands last year, marking the first known case since the country expanded its euthanasia laws in 2024 to include children aged one to 12 who are terminally ill with no prospect of improvement.

Dutch Health Minister Sophie Hermans disclosed the case in a June letter to parliament alongside the annual report from the committee reviewing late-term abortions and medically assisted deaths of children.

Prosecutors are now reviewing whether the doctor followed all legal requirements.

The government has not released the child’s exact age, gender, or specific medical condition, citing privacy.

The euthanasia was said to have been carried out because the child faced “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement” that had a clear medical dimension.

Dutch rules allow euthanasia in such cases for diseases like cancer, as well as certain psychiatric disorders or complex conditions.

It remains prohibited for people who simply feel that their lives are “finished” or “completed” without a medical basis.

For children under 12, parental or guardian consent is required. The government has stated that in these cases, ending the child’s life is considered “the only reasonable alternative to the child’s unbearable and hopeless suffering.”

The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in 2002.

Doctors who fail to follow the rules can face up to 12 years in prison.

Children aged one to 12 were previously barred from assisted suicide.

Dutch officials estimated the change would apply to approximately five to 10 children per year.

In 2025, the Netherlands recorded 10,341 deaths by assisted suicide, a 3.8% increase from the previous year.

Since the mid-2000s, the Netherlands has allowed euthanasia for severely disabled or terminally ill infants under one year old when suffering is deemed “unbearable and untreatable.”

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Canadian Lyme sufferers pushed to state euthanasia while the US steps up

Lyme disease is surging across southeastern Ontario as black-legged ticks invade backyards, trails, and parks, driving a sharp rise in infections that health officials can no longer ignore.

Caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease often strikes with deceptive early symptoms or no symptoms at all. This includes fatigue, fever, and the telltale bullseye rash, which sometimes doesn’t come until weeks or months later.

Lyme is a stealthy, corkscrew-shaped spiral bacterium that drills deep into tissues, joints, and the nervous system, making it incredibly difficult to detect and hard to eradicate.

Missed early treatment can lead to chronic, debilitating pain, inflammation, and long-term illness. This can be amplified by a lack of initial symptoms or pesky co-infections, including Babesia, Bartonella, Anaplasma, and Ehrlichia.

Due to a high variability of symptoms, there aren’t necessarily textbook presentations, which can complicate diagnoses and treatment leading to more severe or atypical manifestations.

In the United States, they’re confronting this epidemic head-on.

HHS Secretary Kennedy announced concrete action to tackle Lyme, including a major multi-million-dollar tick control pilot, up to $2.5 million in Lyme innovation challenges, improved diagnostics, and a goal to reduce cases by 25% by 2035 relative to 2022 levels.

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Doctor who approved assisted suicide for man in Tim Hortons’ parking lot gets 6 months’ probation

A Canadian doctor has been given only a minor reprimand after assessing a man for euthanasia outside of a Tim Hortons and then driving the man to the place where his state-sanctioned death with fatal injections took place.

Ontario doctor James MacLean was given six months’ probation by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) for two infractions related to assisted suicide or so-called “MAiD” (Medical Assistance in Dying), as it’s known. MacLean had to appear before the committee to get a verbal “caution” of his conduct.

In one case, MacLean did not give the drug that paralyzes a person’s body muscles during an assisted suicide procedure. The person started to breathe after the doctor left the person’s residence, despite MacLean declaring the person dead.

The other case involved a man, Thomas Dillon, outside Tim Hortons. Dillon suffered from Crohn’s disease, and his death was flagged by the Ontario coroner’s “MAiD” death review, according to reports.

The CPSO said that a nurse practitioner first assessed the man after he asked for assisted suicide and was then seen by MacLean outside of a Tim Hortons parking lot. Dillon was approved for assisted suicide under Track 2, or when a death is not reasonably foreseeable but the person suffers from an allegedly “grievous and irremediable” medical condition.

The CPSO found that MacLean’s coffee shop meeting with this man was “concerning” and that “sensitive MAiD-related matters” should have been discussed in a professional setting instead.

“Based on the Respondent’s own account, other locations were not meaningfully explored at the time,” noted the panel.

“In the Committee’s view, this reflected a lack of the level of formality and care expected when assessing requests for MAiD.”

Additionally, the CPSO was concerned with the “quantity and nature” of the text messages between MacLean and Dillon, which showed remarks about the man’s family not approving of assisted suicide.

Both complaints were made against MacLean in 2024, with the CPSO concluding that MacLean “did not meet the standard of practice of the profession” and that he “displayed a lack of judgment.”

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