Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

By: Carrie Gifford

Questions to Consider:

1) What is death with dignity? How does one die with dignity?

2) Is death natural or unnatural; are some deaths natural and others unnatural?

3) Is death good or bad; are some deaths good and others bad?

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Points to Look for in the Talk:

1) What is the difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide?

2) In how many states and in how many countries are these medical procedures legal?

3) How are these medical procedures performed?

4) What medical and/or psychological conditions exist that would warrant euthanasia or assisted suicide?

5) What is the #1 reason people site for medically ending their lives?

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Recommended Video

https://youtu.be/l0c95ZNhntw?si=SSPp-kPEu6nqvj6m

The Horrifying Reality Of Euthanasia In Canada - Kelsi Sheren

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Opening Thoughts

• This is a depressing topic.
• It is a confusing topic with definitions and data that are sometimes inconsistent, contradictory or out-of-date.
• It is more complex than I thought when I started this research.
• Ethics and thoughts on this topic are evolving.
• As with our previous talks this year – Ray’s Socialism Trilogy, and Wayne Cockfield’s Organ Harvesting Talk, LANGUAGE IS KEY.
• In the US and worldwide, it has not advanced as far as it could, and we pray it does not, but as usual the strong lobby and SLIPPERY SLOPE nature of this topic put pressure on its expansion.
• We are obviously not going to cover every statistic, every state, every country, every law, every story, every nuance, nor every detail, etc about this topic.
• Death is hard. Most people suffer in the sometimes prolonged dying process.

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What are names for assistance to die?

• Assisted suicide
• Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)
• Physician-assisted dying
• Physician-assisted end of life
• Medical assistance in dying
• Medical Assistance in Dying – MAiD (Canada)
• Medical aid in dying (US)

Euthanasia means good or easy death

Greek: eu = good or easy thanatos = death

• Death with dignity
• Right to die
• Mercy killing
• Termination of life
• End of life option
• Voluntary assisted dying

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What is the difference between �euthanasia and assisted suicide?

Euthanasia:

Another person, such as a doctor, does the final act, which is usually an injection

Assisted Suicide:

The person wanting to die does the final act, which is usually a pill or drink taken orally

Definitions

Definitions of Euthanasia

Active or aggressive: an intentional action is done to cause a person to die

This is legal in some countries under certain conditions

Passive: a life-saving or life-extending action is withheld or stopped to cause or quicken a person's death

This is legal in many countries under some circumstances

Examples are: a feeding tube, a hydration IV, a ventilator, a life-extending operation or drug, oxygen, food and water orally

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Voluntary: a competent person gives informed consent to end their life

This is legal in some countries and US states

Non-voluntary: a person cannot consent and a surrogate decision-maker authorizes it

This is legal in some countries under certain limited conditions

Examples are: severe incapacity, unconsciousness, coma, and a vegetative state

Involuntary: a person’s life is ended against his or her wishes

This is illegal in all countries, is considered murder, and is condemned as unethical

Legality in the US

• Active voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia are illegal in the US.

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• Passive voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia are legal in the US.

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• US states can pass laws prohibiting or permitting assisted suicide per the 1997 U.S. Supreme Court case Washington v. Glucksberg, which stated there is no federal constitutional right to assisted suicide.

Legality in the US - Continued

• 13 US states and Washington DC have made assisted suicide legal.

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• At least 18 other US states have unsuccessfully tried to pass laws to make assisted suicide is legal.

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• Most US states have pre-1997 laws that make assisted suicide illegal and about 13 of these states, such as South Carolina, have strengthened these laws.

https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/where-does-your-state-stand-on-assisted-suicide

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Post-1997 South Carolina Law Excerpts

1998 Act No. 398 - Section 16-3-1090 - Assisted suicide; penalties; injunctive relief (from Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses and Chapter 3 - Offenses Against The Person - https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c003.php)

(B) It is unlawful for a person to assist another person in committing suicide.

(E) A person who violates subsection (B) is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be imprisoned not more than fifteen years or fined not more than one hundred thousand dollars, or both.

(G) The licensing agency which issued a license or certification to a licensed health care professional who assists in a suicide in violation of subsection (B) shall revoke or suspend the license or certification of that person upon receipt of a copy of the record of:

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Features of Assisted Suicide Laws in US States

• The person must be considered incurable, irreversible and terminal within 6 months confirmed by 2 doctors.
• He or she must be at least 18 years old.
• He or she must be of sound mind.
• He or she must voluntarily and repeatedly express a wish to die, oral and written.
• Alternatives must be offered.
• He or she must be physically and mentally able to administer the lethal dose of medication him or herself.
• These stipulations are believed to give him or her an opportunity to change his or her mind at any point.

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Who Pays? - Insurance

• Private health insurers decide whether or not to cover the procedure.
• Medicaid, Medicare, and other federal insurance cannot be used for services or medications received under these laws. *
• State laws making assisted suicide legal say that it is not suicide. Therefore, life, health, accident, and annuity policies are not effected.

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* CA Medicare may be an exception.

There are no US protocols for organ donation after assisted suicide.

Physician Assisted Suicide The Real Effects�https://youtu.be/Ta88xWJ63xk?si=WWYstzVC8Rll8VJ5

In what and how many states is assisted suicide legal and in what years did it become legal?

1. Oregon (1997)
2. Washington (2008)
3. Montana (2009 state supreme court decision-de facto, no law)
4. Vermont (2013)
5. Washington, D.C. (2016)
6. California (2016)
7. Colorado (2016)
8. Hawaii (2018)
9. New Jersey (2019)
10. Maine (2020)
11. New Mexico (2014-2015-court ruling overturned, 2021)
12. Delaware (2025)
13. New York (2026 - August)
14. Illinois (2026 - September)

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Legalities around the World

• The request must be voluntary and repeated.
• Terminal illness may or may not be required.
• Medical diagnosis may or may not be required.
• Unbearable suffering may or may not qualify a person.
• A mentally ill person may or may not qualify.
• Age limitations vary with some countries allowing children to request assisted suicide.
• Doctors may or may not initiate a conversation.
• Consciously-objecting doctors may or may not be mandated to refer if a patient initiates a conversation.

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Legalities around the World - Continued

• One or more physicians and/or a committee may or may not be required to review the case.
• Organ donation may or may not be allowed.
• Witnesses may or may not be required at various stages.
• There may or may not be waiting periods between requests and at various stages.
• There may or may not be removal of restrictions and expansion of populations eligible over time.
• Coercion may or may not be illegal.
• Residency may or may not be required.
• Reporting requirements vary.

In what and how many countries is euthanasia legal and in what years did it become legal?

1. Netherlands 2002
2. Belgium 2002
3. Luxembourg 2009
4. Colombia 2014
5. Canada 2016
6. Australia 2019-2025 Passed in all 6 states and 1 (of 10) territories
7. Spain 2021
8. New Zealand 2021
9. Portugal 2023 (not in force)
10. Ecuador 2024
11. Uruguay 2025

In some other countries, it is illegal, but punishment may be less than for homicide.

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In what and how many countries is assisted suicide legal and in what years did it become legal?

1. Switzerland 1942; 1998 - Dignitas started and included non-residents, which led to suicide tourism
2. Italy 2019 by constitutional court, not law and use is very limited
3. Germany 2020
4. Austria 2022

Examples of Laws Expanding – Slippery Slope

Canada (2016) terminal illness within six months 2021 - terminal illness requirement dropped 2027? - mental illness may qualify

https://youtu.be/yEQelq0ui78?si=Z7_63GY0fPUPbjY2 - New details in B.C.’s euthanasia of young man with mental illness - Rebel News

(0-3 and 23:45-24:30 minutes)

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California (2016) 15-day waiting period 2022 - 48-hour waiting period

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Belgium (2002) no mandate for doctors to refer nor institutions to provide 2020 - doctor must refer and institution cannot block a doctor from providing; (2002) 18+ eligible 2014 - all ages eligible

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Suicide Tourism

Oregon and Vermont allow suicide tourism

• Non-residents must travel to Oregon or Vermont for the process, but once they have the prescription, they can leave the state and ingest it when and if they choose.
• International non-resident suicide tourism is rare, impractical and expensive.

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Switzerland allows suicide tourism

• Dignitas and Pegasos are 2 of several private, non-profit Swiss organizations that accept international clients.
• Selfish motives (financial gain, personal benefit) are prohibited.
• There are few other requirements and illness is not required.
• Costs are $12,000-$19,000.

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From https://christianconcern.com/action/act-now-to-stop-assisted-suicide/

Assisted suicide – a warning from Canada Christian Concern �https://www.youtube.com/live/-Pxne_bRMQM?si=vyoABJ6TELY1fNB2&t=1334 (22:14 – 23:45)

Canada's spiralling death culture: a warning not to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia�https://youtu.be/CBpO2scBF10?si=E4myuSFjSz7giviG&t=279 (4:39 – 6:05)

World Population Review Map� �Countries Where Euthanasia is Legal 2026�

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/where-is-euthanasia-legal

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Percentage of Assisted Suicide Deaths in Various Jurisdictions Table

from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2827640

(Most recent reporting period is 2022 I think)

Percentage of Assisted Suicide Deaths in Various Jurisdictions Chart

from https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/diverging-paths-how-other-countries-have-designed-and-implemented-assisted-dying

Rates of Use - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_suicide

How is an assisted suicide procedure performed?

In US states, it is at a time and place of the person’s choosing usually with a combination of powdered drugs picked up at a pharmacy, mixed in a liquid by the person, and drunk.

• The person is usually unconscious in minutes and dies of cardiac or respiratory arrest in less than 2 hours.
• A medical professional, friends and family may or may not be present.
• About 1/3^rd of approved, prescribed suicide drugs are not used because the people die of their disease, change their minds, and/or got the drug to be prepared in case they felt they needed it.
• A woman with ALS shares her last day after choosing "Medical Aid in Dying" – 2:10 – 3:32 https://youtu.be/jeV3KUoW31U?si=IQ1qoBeGxB1gIZ6t&t=130

How is an euthanasia procedure performed?

IV (intravenous, not intramuscular) injections of drugs via syringes into an IV port sequentially cause coma, then breathing and muscle paralysis and then, if necessary, cardiac arrest.

• The person dies in 10-15 minutes.
• A doctor is usually required to be present. Friends and family may or may not be present.
• The drugs and process may be similar to lethal injection and the process may not be as peaceful or painless as claimed.
• A Good Death: Jeanette's Story – 33:56 – 35:54 https://youtu.be/G_gfysYfE6E?si=M38noN_idNbWTXkr&t=2035

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Oregon Reasons Given for Assisted Suicide

From https://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Documents/year28.pdf

2025 Oregon End-of-Life Concerns

“Dignity in Dying Scotland”

https://www.dignityindyingscotland.org.uk/story/heather-black/

Heather Black was a ‘born fighter’, who spent her life campaigning for the rights of others. But her own death was stripped of dignity.

After experiencing problems with her oesophagus for some time, she was eventually diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. Her final moments are almost too disturbing to describe, but these voices must be heard if we are to have an open and honest debate.

Heather’s daughters made the difficult decision to share the details of her death because they want assisted dying to be legalised in Scotland.

“There were hours of vomiting brown foam. We cut up downie covers, towels, pillow cases, muslin squares, using them to mop up constantly.

We had never seen her cry, but she cried a lot then.”

Heather repeatedly asked her daughters to help end her life.

Those last few days took an enormous toll: on Heather, obviously, but also on the sisters whose last memories of their mother are of panic, pain and helplessness.

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SOLUTIONS!

• Palliative Care and Hospice

• Palliative Sedation

• Advance Care Planning and Advance Directives�
• Prayer and Spiritual, Mental, and Emotional Preparation

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Palliative Care

A medical care model focusing on lessening pain, discomfort and stress, and helping people have the highest quality of life possible at any age and stage of a serious illness and on supporting the family and/or caregivers

• Hospice is a type of palliative care
• Treatments to cure the illness are continued (except with hospice)
• People may be able to receive treatment at home instead of in the emergency room or hospital
• Palliative care utilizes a team approach and helps coordinate doctors talking to each other about the person’s illness and care
• Palliative care is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and health insurers

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Hospice – End-of-Life Palliative Care

A specialized care model providing comfort medical care, including pain medicine, to the dying person and emotional, psychosocial, and spiritual support to the person and family and/or caregivers

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• The person is expected to live 6 months or less, but is not required or rushed to die, and may live longer than expected due to extra care
• Treatments to cure the illness are stopped, but medicines to treat burdensome symptoms of other illnesses may be continued
• The person in hospice often stays at home, but other settings are possible too
• The hospice team is available by phone 24/7 for concerns
• Hospice is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and health insurers
• Grief support is provided to loved ones for up to 12 months after death

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Dolores’ Story�https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/hospice-and-palliative-care/what-are-palliative-care-and-hospice-care

Choosing hospice does not have to be a permanent decision. For example, Dolores was 82 when she learned that her kidneys were failing. She thought that she had lived a long, good life and didn't want to go through dialysis, so Dolores began hospice care. A week later, she learned that her granddaughter was pregnant. After talking with her husband, Dolores changed her mind about using hospice care and left to begin dialysis, hoping to one day hold her first great-grandchild. Shortly after the baby was born, the doctors said Dolores' blood pressure was too low. At that point, she decided to re-enroll in hospice.

Doctrine of Double Effect and Palliative Sedation

Doctrine of Double Effect: the giving of a drug with the intent to reduce pain, though the drug could cause the patient to die sooner

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• This is not euthanasia
• Morphine and other pain meds can be effectively used without speeding up the dying process
• The drugs may increase sleep, but the person is not deeply unconscious and can be awakened

Palliative Sedation, Terminal and Total Sedation and Continuous Deep Sedation (a Step beyond Hospice): the giving of a drug to reduce consciousness

• In cases of continuous, severe pain and agitation, this method may be used, though it may not totally relieve symptoms
• Water and food are often stopped and the person is usually unconscious until death
• Because the intent is to reduce severe suffering, not to cause death, this is not considered euthanasia, but some doctors feel that it is right on the edge of euthanasia and that it may hasten death

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1990 Supreme Court Case

Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health

This case acknowledged a competent person's right to refuse lifesaving treatment, but allowed states to require that an incompetent person's wish to discontinue life support be proven by clear and convincing evidence. It therefore accelerated the advanced directive or living will movement.

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1986, 1988, 1991 South Carolina Living Will Law Excerpts

Title 44 - Health and Chapter 77 - Death With Dignity Act

(from https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t44c077.php)

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Section 44-77-110 – “The execution and consummation of declarations made in accordance with Sections 44-77-40 and 44-77-50 do not constitute suicide for any purpose.”

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Section 44-77-130 – “Nothing in this chapter may be construed to authorize or approve mercy killing, or to permit any affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life other than to permit the natural process of dying.”

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Legal Documents�https://www.caringinfo.org/blog/types-of-documents-to-make-healthcare-wishes-known/

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1 Legal documents must be witnessed or notarized per the laws of your state. We have included your state’s requirements in the preface to your state’s Advance Directive. In general, you must be over 18 and of sound mind to complete the document.

Advance Directives

An Advance Directive =

A Living Will or Will to Live +

A Healthcare Power of Attorney

(aka Healthcare Agent, Surrogate, Proxy, Attorney-in-Fact, or Representative)

A Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST, POST, MOLST, MOST) provides medical orders for seriously ill and frail people and is completed with a healthcare provider.

A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) is a person’s medical order to not receive CPR.

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A HIPAA Right of Access to Healthcare Information can be filled out for others to have access to a person’s medical records.

https://www.caringinfo.org/blog/types-of-documents-to-make-healthcare-wishes-known/

Advance Directive Pro-Life Alternatives

https://nrlc.org/medethics/willtolive/states/

https://nrlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/southcarolina.pdf

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The wording in living wills seems to encourage refusal of feeding and other life-sustaining treatments. Terms in living wills, like artificial means, heroic measures and terminal, are open to a wide range of interpretations.

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The Will to Live

favors preserving life

It documents a will to live rather than a will to die.

Advance Directive Pro-Life Alternatives

The Five Wishes

“a living will with a heart and soul”

https://www.fivewishes.org/, https://agingwithdignity.org/

• The Person I Want to Make Care Decisions for Me
• The Kind of Medical Treatment I Want or Don't Want
• How Comfortable I Want to Be
• How I Want People to Treat Me
• What I Want My Loved Ones to Know

Coma vs Vegetative State �(from https://www.planningmyway.org/en/resource-center)

Coma – a person looks like he or she is sleeping. The person doesn’t move much.

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Vegetative State – a person may open his or her eyes, may make movements, and may look like he or she is watching something.

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According to expert medical opinion, a person who is in a coma or a vegetative state:

• Does not feel pain or any other sensations
• Has no awareness of their surroundings
• Cannot interact in any way with the world around them

These verses seem to indicate being in a coma is not Biblical death:

Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

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John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

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Mattew 27:50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

Why is legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide wrong and not a “good” death?

From the Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide booklet

by Christian Concern

https://christianconcern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CC-Resource-Booklet-Euthanasia-and-Assisted-Suicide-200828.pdf

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1. It is unnecessary – alternative treatments are available.

2. It is dangerous – putting weak and vulnerable people at risk.

3. It is wrong – contrary to all historical codes of ethics.

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It Is Unnecessary

1. Refusing treatment is legal in most countries
2. Palliative care, hospice and palliative sedation can handle the emotional, physical, and spiritual pain and suffering from illness and death of patients and their loved ones
3. Euthanasia and assisted suicide are sought mainly in Western nations, not in other regions like Africa
4. Polls that seem to indicate the public is in favor of euthanasia and assisted suicide may be dependent on how the questions are asked, on the skewed marketing and misinformation the public has been subjected to on this topic, and on how well the public understands the questions being asked

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It Is Dangerous – page 1 of 6

1. It initiates a slippery slope all the way to eugenics where 3rd parties could be deemed decision-makers in who lives and who dies via:
1. Expanding laws, potentially even to the point of non-voluntary and involuntary euthanasia
2. Increasing suicides as demonstrated by the statistics
3. Effects on parties to the issue:
1. The person choosing death who
1. may feel pressure from lack of medical care or financial strain
2. may feel guilty that they are a burden
3. may feel a duty to die
4. may have been misdiagnosed by a doctor
5. may be confused, lonely and hurting emotionally
6. may be in need spiritually
7. etc

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It Is Dangerous – page 2 of 6

• Effects on parties to the issue: (continued)
2. Family and friends who
1. may or may not agree with or even know about the person’s decision
2. may be negatively impacted or devastated by the death
3. may feel pressure to pursue euthanasia for the person
4. may pressure the person due to nefarious motives
3. Children (“mature minors”) who are sick and their families who
• may feel coerced during a very confusing, stressful and grievous time
4. The vulnerable -
• mentally ill, disabled, homeless, poor, addicts, elderly, those who feel less worthy, those who have gentler personalities, those deemed to have a “low quality of life” (a subjective designation), potentially anyone and everyone as the idea gains popularity and normalcy
5. Medical professionals because this legal option
• violates the doctor/patient relationship of healing, care and compassion
• leads to doctor shopping for a doctor that will approve the suicide
• lowers and could eliminate incentives to cure or provide palliative care

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It Is Dangerous – page 3 of 6

• Effects on parties to the issue: (continued)
5. Medical professionals because this legal option (continued)
4. decreases the morale of medical professionals and institutions that aspired and aim to heal and save life
5. causes regret in some doctors who assist in suicide
6. violates conscientious medical professionals and institutions mandated to refer or provide suicide
7. expects doctors to determine family coercion which they can’t do
8. strips faith from medical care
7. Insurance companies who
• are denying coverage for life-saving procedures and offering assisted suicide instead
8. Society because this legal option
• can make us question our value
• decreases trust in God and reliance on Him to be with us in our fears and suffering
• can create apathy and hard-heartedness

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It Is Dangerous – page 4 of 6

• Effects on parties to the issue: (continued)
8. Society because this legal option (continued)
• creates an atmosphere and culture of death
• conflicts with and undermines suicide prevention efforts
• sends the message that suicide is a legitimate answer to the problems of life
• seems statistically to have increased non-assisted suicide in states where assisted suicide is legal
• As with abortion, over time it can evolve to being on demand by default
3. Humans are fallen so abuses will happen
4. Terms like “intolerable suffering” and “quality of life” are subjective and based on opinion
5. Doctors find loopholes to approve people’s requests
6. Recording-keeping is often incomplete resulting in incomplete and inaccurate statistics

It Is Dangerous – page 5 of 6

6. Assisted suicide prescriptions are not tracked: 1/3rd of them are not accounted for and may have ended up improperly disposed in the sewage system, sold on the black market, or accessible to a child
7. Some jurisdictions allow advance directives for euthanasia, but the person may no longer want this once they can no longer withdraw their request
8. Human function becomes more important than human being (ableism) – what we can do becomes more important than who we are
9. It puts comparative price tags on living vs dying

It Is Dangerous – page 6 of 6

10. It is an irreversible solution to a temporary problem
11. It may not be a painless, peaceful death as promoted: drugs and process may be similar to lethal injection for the death penalty in which autopsies have found lungs to be full of fluid as in drowning and waterboarding
12. It attempts to create a utopia, which becomes a dystopia
13. It attempts to escape suffering

It Is Unethical and Immoral

1. It violates the Hippocratic Oath or a health professional’s role as a healer; palliative and geriatric doctors are very against it
2. It violates the teachings and books of most religions
3. It defines dignity as based on our abilities rather than on our inherent worth as children of God
4. Per the booklet, “…a humane society should decide that caring is more humane than killing.”
5. People are being denied services and/or treatment they want and need and offered euthanasia instead
6. It may become, and has already become in some healthcare systems, a way to save money rather than lives

It Is Unethical and Immoral (continued)

7. Is it ethical and moral to offer and provide suicide prevention to some and suicide assistance to others?
8. It is short-sighted and not satisfactorily thought-out; giving rights to some groups puts other groups at risk
9. It is not good for society
10. Euphemistic terminology and PR campaigns deceive and manipulate the public
11. It attempts to take control away from God
12. It is the “Gospel of Self”, “Gospel of Control and Self-autonomy”, “the Gospel of My Body, My Choice, My Decision, My Right”

Bible Scriptures

• Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder.

• Deuteronomy 30:19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

• Isaiah 53:4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,

• Proverbs 31:6 Let beer be for those who are perishing, wine for those who are in anguish! 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more.

Bible Scriptures

• Matthew 24:10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

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• Revelation 9:6 During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

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What are action items to take on this topic?

1. Educate yourself on this topic, including on the way language is used for this topic, as you have done tonight, and continue mulling it over.

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2. Educate others. Be able to explain and defend alternatives to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Be able to counter the talking points based in emotionalism and personal autonomy with true compassion and help for people who are suffering and/or dying and solid reasons against legalized suicide.

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3. Stay abreast of the legislative landscape and the lobby groups for and against euthanasia and assisted suicide.

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What are action items to take on this topic?�- continued

4. Ensure that you and your loved ones have thought this issue through, including available medical technologies, shared your wishes with each other, and legally executed clearly-worded advance directives, such as The Will to Live or The Five Wishes.

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5. Work on being emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and relationally prepared for your and your loved ones’ deaths and potential suffering en route to death. We can never be completely prepared, but we can work to be as prepared as possible.

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6. Pray about all of this, including prayer about the nature of your own death as you are led - such as praying for God’s will and timing, praying for grace in suffering, praying for little suffering, praying for a peaceful death, etc.

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Additional Recommended Resources

The false gospel of assisted suicide

https://christianconcern.com/comment/the-false-gospel-of-assisted-suicide/

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Liz Carr’s Better Off Dead – 58 minutes

https://youtu.be/-G_xF4dvS-U?si=QuTHnzDeiaSAMUDw

How Should a Christian View Physician Assisted Suicide? Joni Eareckson Tada – 9 minutes

https://youtu.be/QfACxjXhVU4?si=Ovxh4uOFj85ZnP07

Back cover of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide booklet �by Christian Concern�https://christianconcern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/CC-Resource-Booklet-Euthanasia-and-Assisted-Suicide-200828.pdf �

Let’s “help cultivate

a culture of assisted living,

rather than

assisted dying.”