Webinar: What Canada — and Now Spain — Can Teach Ireland About Euthanasia

27.03.2026

As debates continue about legalising assisted suicide, we’re hosting a webinar to examine what has happened in countries that travelled this road before us, and what we must learn before making irreversible decisions.

In 2016, Canada made a promise.

Assisted death, they said, would be rare, a last resort for those truly at the end of life. Safeguards would protect the vulnerable. No one would ever feel pressured. It would be compassionate, controlled, and carefully limited.

But a decade later, that promise lies in pieces.

Canada is now approaching 100,000 assisted deaths. What we were told would begin as a narrow exception has become one of the country’s leading causes of death. Doctors report 45 people dying this way every day. And the stories emerging from families, disability advocates, and medical professionals are deeply troubling.

People with disabilities being told support is “too expensive.” Patients with chronic illness offered death before treatment. Individuals battling depression fearing they’ll soon qualify for euthanasia.

This is not a gentle slope, it’s a freefall.

And this crisis is not confined to Canada. Across Europe, similar stories are beginning to surface, including one that shocked Spain.

Another devasting story, a young woman, Noelia Castillo Ramos, saw her life change forever after a horrific gang rape left her paraplegic as she attempted end her life after suffering such terror. The physical pain was immense, but the emotional trauma ran even deeper. Instead of giving her the help she needed the state failed Noelia as she was killed by state sanctioned euthanasia. 

Her story is a heartbreaking reminder that trauma is real, mental health wounds are profound, and people often fight battles no one else can see.

As Ireland continues to debate legalising assisted suicide, these stories from Canada, Spain, and beyond must not be ignored. They show how quickly boundaries shift, how safeguards erode, and how vulnerable people can be left feeling that death is their only option.

That’s why we’re hosting a vital webinar with Jonathon Van Maren, author, speaker, and communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio‑Ethical Reform. Jonathon has spent years documenting the human cost behind these policies.

He will walk us through: How Canada’s system expanded so rapidly. Why safeguards failed. The impact on the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable. What Ireland must learn from this and from cases like Noelia’s.

This is a conversation Ireland urgently needs.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zkKRHMl0THaMgpROoC4sWw