by Bob Wurzelbacher

In an age that prizes autonomy above almost every other value, assisted suicide is often presented as a compassionate response to suffering. Advocates frame it as mercy for the terminally ill and freedom for those facing pain or dependency. Yet, beneath the reassuring language of “aid in dying” lies a profound moral and social danger—one recognized not only by Catholic teaching but increasingly by secular research as well.

The Catholic Church’s opposition to assisted suicide is sometimes dismissed as purely religious. In reality, it rests on a deeply human insight: dignity does not disappear when independence fades. Human worth is not measured by productivity, comfort, or control over circumstances. Every person remains worthy of care precisely when they are weakest.

Catholic theology understands suffering not as something to be romanticized, but as a reality that calls forth solidarity. Christ did not eliminate suffering by escaping it; He entered into it, transforming it through love and accompaniment. A society shaped by that vision seeks better hospice care, pain management, and community support—not a prescription that ends a patient’s life.

This moral reasoning also protects the vulnerable. Once death becomes a medical solution, subtle pressures inevitably arise. Elderly patients may fear becoming financial or emotional burdens. Persons with disabilities may internalize the message that dependence diminishes dignity. What begins as a “choice” can quietly become an expectation.

Even apart from religious belief, serious empirical concerns exist.

Research published in the Southern Medical Journal examining U.S. state data found that legalizing physician-assisted suicide was associated with increases in total suicide rates compared with states that did not legalize it—and importantly, there was no corresponding decrease in non-assisted suicides. In other words, assisted suicide did not replace other suicides; overall deaths increased.

Other analyses have warned of a broader “suicide contagion” effect. When society publicly validates some suicides as rational or dignified responses to suffering, longstanding suicide-prevention messaging becomes conflicted. One peer-reviewed review noted evidence linking rising suicide rates with the legalization and positive media portrayal of assisted suicide, particularly following Oregon’s pioneering law.

Oregon itself has long struggled with suicide rates significantly higher than the national average in the years after legalization—a troubling reality given that assisted deaths are not counted among ordinary suicides in many comparisons.

Dr. Joseph Meaney of the National Catholic Bioethics Center recently highlighted this contradiction in his February 2026 essay, “The General Rise in Suicides and Legalized Assisted Suicide.” At a time when communities invest enormous resources into preventing despair-driven deaths, he argues, public policy cannot coherently promote suicide as therapy for some people while urgently trying to prevent it for others.

Ultimately, assisted suicide reflects a deeper cultural anxiety about suffering itself. Modern medicine has become extraordinarily skilled at extending life, yet society often struggles to accompany those who live with fragility, illness, or decline.

The Catholic vision proposes something far more demanding—and far more humane—than autonomy alone. It calls families, physicians, and communities to refuse abandonment, to invest in palliative care, and to affirm until natural death that no life is disposable.

A culture is judged not by how efficiently it ends suffering, but by how faithfully it refuses to abandon those who suffer. Authentic compassion does not eliminate the sufferer. It surrounds them with love.

Bob Wurzelbacher is the Director of the Office for Respect Life Ministries & Office for Persons with Disabilities.