CRPD – Concerns About Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide
The defense of life and dignity of every human being is at the core of One of Us. In this perspective, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has issued repeated warnings that euthanasia and assisted suicide laws, when linked to disability, pose a serious risk of discrimination. Such laws may reinforce ableist stereotypes and undermine the equal worth of persons with disabilities.
Normative Framework
General Comment No. 6 (2018) on Equality and Non-Discrimination stresses that States must prevent modern forms of discrimination against persons with disabilities. This framework applies directly to end-of-life laws: eligibility criteria that single out disability, directly or indirectly, are incompatible with the principle of equality.
Reference: CRPD – General Comment No. 6 (2018)
Concluding Observations: Canada (2025)
In its 2025 Concluding Observations on Canada, the CRPD urged the repeal of “Track 2 MAiD” — access to euthanasia when death is not reasonably foreseeable. The Committee warned that this regime rests on negative, ableist assumptions about disability and risks treating “suffering” as inherent to disability rather than as the result of inequality or lack of support.
References: UN Digital Library – CRPD Concluding Observations: Canada (2025) · OHCHR Meeting Summary (Mar 2025)
Concluding Observations: Spain (2019)
In 2019, the CRPD expressed concern that provisions in Spanish law allowing euthanasia “on the grounds of disability” risk stigmatizing persons with disabilities. The Committee emphasized that States must avoid any legal frameworks that discriminate, directly or indirectly, against persons with disabilities at the end of life.
Reference: UN Digital Library – CRPD Concluding Observations: Spain (2019) (PDF)