Today, Not Dead Yet joins in solidarity with over 100 other organizations and experts to release a joint statement calling on governments to halt the practice of assisted suicide for individuals with eating disorders.
This statement is in response to a recent study revealing that at least sixty patients with eating disorders have been euthanized or assisted in suicide in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States. Alarmingly, a third of these cases involved young people in their teens and twenties, many of whom had not received comprehensive treatment. This study demonstrates the dangerous and uncontrollable nature of a public policy allowing assisted suicide and euthanasia.
We are urging governments to take immediate action. This practice undermines decades of research on effective treatments and endangers the lives of vulnerable individuals. Moreover, it raises significant public safety concerns and an urgent need for increased access to eating disorder care, which remains inaccessible to many patients due to cost, lack of insurance, and extended wait times.
Read the full statement and list of signatories here: www.eatbreathethrive.org/joint-statement-assisted-suicide A grassroots social media campaign with the hashtag #TreatableNotTerminal is also amplifying the message that people with eating disorders need access to treatment — not lethal medications.