ACPeds Denounces Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Minors 

17 April 2021

Media Contact: 

Quentin Van Meter, MD, FCP, President

admin@acpeds.org 

(352) 376-1877

Many countries have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide for adults. However, this is not the case for the majority of the United States. Only the District of Columbia and nine states – California, Colorado, Oregon, Montana, Vermont, Maine, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Washington – have legalized physician assisted suicide for adults in America. Recently, the Netherlands, Belgium, and several other countries have expanded their euthanasia and assisted suicide laws to include children and adolescents. 

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) decries this trend and calls upon the medical profession in the United States to not only reject euthanasia and assisted suicide for minors, but return to its pro-life Hippocratic roots and uphold the ancient medical ethics principle of first, do no harm as the basis of every doctor-patient relationship. 

Executive Director, Dr. Michelle Cretella, said, “It is the role of the physician to accompany, care for and relieve the suffering of all patients, including terminally ill patients, with compassion and the best available medical treatments. The intentional killing of human life is not healthcare. It violates the dignity of the human person and is always unethical. Physicians are healers and comforters; not killers.”

Read the statement: Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Pediatrics

About the American College of Pediatricians

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is a national medical association of licensed physicians and healthcare professionals who specialize in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. It was founded by a group of concerned physicians who saw the need for a pediatric organization that would not be influenced by the politically driven pronouncements of the day. The mission of the ACPeds is to enable all children to reach their optimal physical and emotional health and well-being. The ACPeds is committed to fulfilling its mission by producing sound policy, based upon the best available research, to assist parents and to influence society in the endeavor of childrearing.