Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

08/20/2026

People say, “We put suffering dogs down. Why would we make a human suffer?” But that argument misses the most important difference.

We do not euthanize animals because their lives have become worthless. We make that decision because an animal cannot understand its diagnosis, tell us that it feels like a burden, explain that it is depressed or lonely, ask for different treatment, or understand that tomorrow might be different.

A human being can.

So when a person says, “I want to die,” the answer should not simply be, “Then we will help you die.” The question should be WHY? Is the pain uncontrolled? Are they frightened? Alone? Depressed? Feeling like a burden? Have they been unable to get proper palliative care, disability support or help at home?

Those things matter because sometimes what looks like a request for death is actually a desperate request for the suffering to stop.

And here is the uncomfortable truth: euthanasia does not treat pain, loneliness, fear or hopelessness. It ends the life of the person experiencing them.

That does not mean we want people to suffer. It means the exact opposite. We believe suffering should trigger more care, not death.

Dogs deserve compassion. Human beings deserve compassion too. But human medicine should never be reduced to the standard we use in veterinary medicine.

A person should never have to die in order for their suffering to end. Our first responsibility should be to fight the suffering, not eliminate the sufferer.

Euthanasia is not the answer!

08/20/2026

Support Alex Schadenberg and Marcel Lemmen in their charity run for Compassionate Community Care and the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

A blog about euthanasia, assisted su***de, elder abuse, end-of-life care, disability rights, palliative care.

08/20/2026

Join Alex Schadenberg in Vancouver at a book signing with Alicia Duncan on Friday night.

A blog about euthanasia, assisted su***de, elder abuse, end-of-life care, disability rights, palliative care.

08/19/2026

California 2025 assisted su***de report. More deaths. Missing data. https://ow.ly/S6jP50ZBCQX

08/19/2026

There is a contradiction at the heart of Canada’s assisted dying laws that deserves serious thought.

If an ordinary person counsels, encourages, or assists someone to die by su***de, Canadian law can treat that as a serious criminal offence.

But when that same final outcome happens inside an approved medical process, involving a doctor or nurse practitioner and the requirements set out in law, the legal treatment changes completely.

That should make people stop and ask why.

Does a medical title change what death is? Does paperwork change the outcome? Does government approval make the act itself fundamentally different?

We can talk about assessments, safeguards, consent and eligibility, but none of those words change the final reality: a person who was alive is intentionally made dead.

Medicine has always been associated with healing, relieving suffering and protecting vulnerable people. When intentionally ending life becomes part of that same system, Canadians have every right to question what that means.

And saying, “But it’s legal,” should never end the conversation.

Legality and morality are not the same thing.

So ask the question without the softened language:

If helping someone die is considered a crime outside the medical system, why does putting a medical title, a process and government approval around it make it acceptable?

Has the act really changed?

Or have we simply changed what we call it?

08/19/2026

That decision lasts a moment. The consequences do not.

Euthanasia is often framed as an individual choice, but death never belongs to one person alone. There are families who will continue gathering around tables, celebrating birthdays, marking holidays and living ordinary days with someone permanently missing.

The empty chair is not political. It is personal.

When death is presented as care, we also need to talk about the people who are left behind, the grief they carry, and the reality that some decisions cannot be undone.

Euthanasia changes everything.

08/18/2026

Family files euthanasia complaint to the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Free online screening of Prescription Poison film on August 27. https://ow.ly/sWEn50ZB6HJ

08/17/2026

Tasmania has massive increase in assisted su***de deaths.
Tamara Jansen to speak in 3 Ontario cities.
Alicia Duncan's book launch in Abbotsford and Vancouver.

Tamara Jansen (MP) to speak on Bill C-218 in three Ontario cities.

08/17/2026

If a death leaves a room full of loved ones shattered, traumatized, and wondering whether something else could have been done, then maybe we need to stop sanitizing euthanasia with softer language.

Euthanasia is the intentional killing of a human being. That is the reality. A life is deliberately ended, and then the family is expected to somehow live with what happened.

We are told it is compassion. We are told it is dignity. We are told it is choice. But what about the husband who watches the person he loves be killed and then goes home alone? What about the daughter who wonders whether her mother really wanted to die or simply felt like a burden? What about the son who spends years replaying the day his parent’s death was scheduled?

We talk endlessly about the right to die, but almost never about the people who have to keep living after that death was deliberately caused.

That is the part society does not want to talk about.

There is no natural goodbye. No allowing life to take its course. No final chapter written in its own time. Instead, there is an appointment, a procedure, a moment when one person’s life is intentionally ended, and a family is left to carry the emotional wreckage.

And then we call that compassion.

Real compassion should mean surrounding suffering people with care, pain relief, mental-health support, disability support, hospice, family, love and presence. It should mean refusing to abandon someone in their darkest moment.

Killing should never become our answer to suffering.

Because when one person is killed, the suffering does not simply disappear. It can be transferred to the people left behind.

Call it dignity. Call it mercy. Call it choice.

But do not pretend it is not killing.

And do not pretend the family does not pay a devastating price!

08/15/2026

Mental illness can convince a person that nothing will ever change. Depression can create profound hopelessness. Isolation, chronic pain, disability, fear and exhaustion can make someone feel like death is their only escape.

But suffering in one chapter of life does not tell us how the rest of that life will unfold.

When someone is suicidal, our response is usually to intervene, protect them, offer treatment and help them through the crisis. We do that because circumstances can change, treatment can work, and people can change their minds.

That is why the conversation around euthanasia and mental illness is so serious.

In Canada, people whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness are currently not eligible for medical assistance in dying, with that exclusion scheduled to end on March 17, 2027.

Before society ever considers death as an answer, we should be asking:

Did this person receive proper mental-health treatment?
Do they have adequate pain control?
Do they have housing, disability supports and financial security?
Are they isolated?
Do they feel like a burden?
Has every reasonable effort been made to help them live?

There is a profound difference between saying:

“Your suffering is real, and we will help you through it.”

and saying:

“Your suffering is real, and we can help end your life.”

Mental illness deserves treatment.
Depression deserves care.
Loneliness deserves connection.
Disability deserves support.
Pain deserves compassionate medical care.

People in their darkest moments need hope, not euthanasia.

Circumstances can change. Treatment can change things. People can change their minds.

Death cannot be undone.