Virginia Slouches Toward State-Sanctioned Euthanasia
Virginia Democrats push to decriminalize suicide. What could come next?
by Bronson Winslow
Virginia Democrats are working to legalize suicide in the Commonwealth, with a bill already on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) desk—but the legislation won’t stop there.
If Spanberger signs HB 43 into law, it would open the door to a cultural and legal transformation that Virginia may not have the ability to reverse. The next step: state-sanctioned euthanasia.
“HB 43 has passed the General Assembly and is waiting for the governor to enact. This is step one of a two-step process to make physician-assisted suicide legal in Virginia next year,” said attorney Tim Anderson. “Part 2 comes next year. If you are old—and your kids don’t like you—you might want to think about moving out of Virginia before next year.”
Canada legalized assisted suicide in 2016 under its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program. Less than a decade later, hundreds of thousands had died in the program.
As of 2024, over 76,000 Canadians had died by assisted suicide. In 2024 alone, over 16,000 people died via MAID, and assisted suicide now accounts for about 1 in every 20 deaths in Canada. The country is predicted to reach 100,000 deaths by the end of 2026.
For perspective, Canada lost 61,000 soldiers in World War I and 45,000 soldiers in World War II. Euthanasia in Canada over just ten years has resulted in the same number of casualties as both world wars combined.
Additionally, assisted suicide in Canada has become a system that targets vulnerable individuals. The MAID program is offered through the Canadian healthcare system and is widely used by the disabled, those without support, and those citing poverty, loneliness, or mental health issues. Over 42 percent of all MAID deaths are among disabled individuals.
Preventing the slippery slope
Proponents of assisted suicide like to claim that safeguards will create an ethical system in which people can “die with dignity.”
But there is nothing ethical about killing.
Regardless of the framework, assisted suicide is a self-expanding idea. Ten years ago, Canadian officials told us the MAID program would remain a limited and highly restrictive practice. Today, it has led to as many deaths as two world wars and numerous policies that expedite death—including among those who may not be ready to die.
In many cases, patients can now obtain permission for assisted suicide in a single day. Supporters of the program have attempted to expand assisted suicide to those with metal health conditions.
The entire system creates a cheap escape from hardship and fosters a societal belief that lives are disposable. Suicide becomes more dignified than overcoming hardship.
It also places physicians in a precarious position—one that undermines trust in medicine.
“Both euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide would undermine the medical profession by eroding the trust of patients in their physicians as caregivers. If doctors were permitted to engage in practices that harm their patients, then patients would never know if their doctors were truly acting in their best interests,” wrote Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco in Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics.
Protecting Virginia
Democrats are running amok in the legislature. From stripping the gun rights of every Virginian, to shielding violent illegal aliens from justice and protecting child rapists—their radical agenda knows no bounds.
The push to legalize suicide is simply step one in a long, dark plan to normalize murder. We cannot allow Virginia to follow in the footsteps of Canada’s dystopia.
Bronson Winslow is an Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in gun rights and criminal justice policy. He graduated from Virginia Military Institute. This column has been republished with permission from Restoration News.
