Human dignity under attack

The culture of death is advancing in America. From abortion to assisted suicide, human dignity is increasingly under attack. While the fight for unborn life continues to receive significant public attention, assaults on human dignity at the other end of life have unfolded more quietly. Yet as physician-assisted suicide continues to expand across the United States, the issue is beginning to draw broader scrutiny.

That growing concern was evident during a Senate hearing this spring when Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. described permissive assisted-suicide laws as “abhorrent,” warning, “I don’t think we can be a moral society … if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society.” Kennedy’s comments reflect an emerging recognition that assisted suicide raises fundamental questions about human dignity and the value of human life.

Those concerns are not merely theoretical. Currently, 11 states and the District of Columbia permit physician-assisted suicide. With new laws in Illinois and New York taking effect later this year, physician-assisted suicide will be legal in 13 states and the District of Columbia. Of course, the trend is not limited to the United States. This movement first gained ground in liberal European societies and then spread. Since 2020, nine countries have legalized physician-assisted suicide, while others are actively considering similar legislation.

The movement is spreading in our own country. For example, in March, Pennsylvania lawmakers introduced bills to legalize physician-assisted suicide. This represents the latest state-level effort to legalize euthanasia, increasingly referred to by the euphemistic term “medical aid in dying” (MAID). Although MAID’s supporters downplay its ethical concerns, efforts to expand its availability are raising serious questions.

Pennsylvania’s proposal, known as the “End of Life Options Act,” would allow individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness and given fewer than six months to live to request a lethal prescription. Supporters of the measure frame their argument in terms of personal autonomy and point to several purported safeguards, including requiring the request to originate with the patient, be witnessed by two individuals, and receive certification from two physicians confirming the diagnosis. On paper, these provisions are intended to ensure that such decisions are voluntary and carefully considered.

However, in other countries these safeguards have often eroded over time. For example, when Canada legalized physician-assisted suicide in 2016, it was presented as a narrowly tailored option for those experiencing intolerable suffering from serious physical conditions. But in 2021, that requirement was removed, and the number of deaths by assisted suicide surged. Looking ahead, the Canadian government plans to expand eligibility even further in 2027 to include individuals suffering solely from mental illness.

The continued expansion of physician-assisted suicide should not surprise Christians. The logic underlying MAID reflects the same principles of expressive individualism that shape other manifestations of the culture of death. In a culture with increasingly few limiting principles, autonomy and personal control have become the highest goods. In such a context, the desire to control the timing and manner of one’s death is predictable.

However, Christian theology offers a fundamentally different vision. The Bible teaches that God is the author of life (Genesis 1:26–27), and that human life possesses inherent dignity from beginning to end. The prohibition against taking innocent life (Exodus 20:13), the affirmation of life in the womb (Psalm 139:13–16), and the command to honor the elderly (Proverbs 16:31) all point to a consistent ethic: Every human life is worthy of protection, care, and respect.

This conviction also shapes a Christian understanding of medicine. The physician’s vocation is directed toward healing, not harm, a principle long reflected in the Hippocratic commitment to “do no harm.” Physician-assisted suicide reverses this ethic by turning the healer into an agent of death and reducing the physician-patient relationship to one governed primarily by personal preference.

Moreover, MAID creates pressure on vulnerable individuals to end their lives prematurely. What begins as a supposed “right to die” can quickly become a perceived “duty to die,” especially for the elderly and those who fear becoming a burden to their families or society.

At the same time, Christians appear underprepared to engage this debate. In October 2025, Family Research Council surveyed churchgoers and found that only 54% wanted additional teaching on assisted suicide. Even as the culture increasingly normalizes assisted suicide, many Christians appear disengaged from the conversation. Yet there are signs that awareness is growing. In June, messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution opposing assisted suicide and warning about its expansion throughout the United States.

In short, end-of-life questions are central to a biblical worldview that affirms the inherent dignity of every human life. Recent laws in New York and Illinois reflect a growing commitment to autonomy as the highest good. As this value increasingly shapes public policy, society will become more likely to treat vulnerable human life as disposable.

Christians, therefore, must not only oppose these policies in the public square but also build communities where every life is protected and treated with dignity. Human dignity is not grounded in autonomy or perceived quality of life, but in the reality that every person is made in the image of God. Recovering this vision is essential if the Church is to resist the expanding culture of death.