New York governor Kathy Hochul has signed a bill that will allow New Yorkers to seek out physician-assisted suicide, also known as euthanasia. There are now 13 states in the United States, as well as Washington, DC that permit those with terminal illness to end their lives, with both Illinois and New York passing laws that will allow the action later this year in their states. Hochul called signing the bill “an incredibly difficult decision,” but shared that her own mother had died of ALS (sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  “My mother died of ALS, and I am all too familiar with the pain of seeing someone you love suffer and being powerless to stop it.”

The increasing prevalence of euthanasia in the United States and other countries has many Christians and conservatives concerned about how such laws could be used in the future for population control and wiping out those considered “undesirable” in the population such as older citizens and those with disabilities. “We’ve seen time and again, when you pass these laws, there becomes this sense of coercion of those individuals to say, ‘Oh, you’re too much of a burden on your family, or you’re too much of a drain on the medical system,’” said Matt Sharp with Alliance Defending Freedom. A recent story of a 26-year-old Canadian man with seasonal depression who used the country’s MAID service to kill himself has raised concerns over euthanasia’s application.

Another report claimed that an elderly Canadian woman was euthanized against her will when her husband grew tired of caring for her. “This is the natural consequence of a worldview that loves death but masquerades as ‘compassionate.’ There’s nothing compassionate” about ending the lives of those who are suffering. It’s exploitative and dehumanizing, and it has proven to be a very slippery slope,” wrote Answers in Genesis’s Ken Ham. There is also the growing concern that Canada will allow minors to seek euthanasia without the consent of a parent, meaning the US and other nations could follow suit. Meanwhile, Americans have grown soft on “doctor-assisted suicide” or “euthanasia.” A 2024 Gallup poll found that 66% to 71% of Americans did not find it “morally wrong.” “We expect there’s possibly more dominoes that will fall as far as other states legalizing assisted suicide, which we find, of course, very unfortunate.” said Vice President of Advocacy and Bioethics for the Christian Medical and Dental Association, Dr. Bick Lantz. “And we’re following the footsteps of Canada, which has legalized throughout the entire country.”