(LifeSiteNews) — Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described assisted suicide laws that target vulnerable populations as “abhorrent” during an April 22 Senate hearing.
Kennedy, who identifies as a Catholic but has a mixed record when it comes to publicly supporting the Church’s moral teachings, was on Capitol Hill for budget discussions.
GOP Senator James Lankford asked him to explain how the HHS is protecting Americans with disabilities from being lured into killing themselves.
“We’ve now seen a rise of people with eating disorders that are given access to assisted suicide, and this is just wrong a multitude of ways,” Lankford explained, referring to laws in Vermont, Colorado, and California that are being challenged by disability rights groups.
“I think those laws are abhorrent,” Kennedy responded. “And we just see in Canada today, I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide, and as you say, it targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their lives.”
RFK Jr. says HHS will fight to stop assisted suicide laws from spreading in the U.S.
“I think those laws are abhorrent.”
“In Canada today… I think the number one cause of death is assisted suicide.”
“It targets people with disabilities and people who are struggling in their… pic.twitter.com/xiXKJyV0w7
— End Tribalism in Politics (@EndTribalism) April 22, 2026
While assisted suicide is not the top cause of death in Canada, it is one of the most common ways for Canadians to die. On February 6, 2024, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition released data indicating that there were approximately 15,300 euthanasia or medical assistance in dying (MAID) deaths in Canada in 2023. On December 11, 2024, Canada’s Ministry of Health released the Fifth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying confirming that euthanasia deaths represented 4.7 percent of all deaths in 2023. This means euthanasia is the fifth leading cause of death in the country.
Canadian Catholic Cardinal Frank Leo has repeatedly expressed strong opposition to the disturbing growth in legalized suicide in his country. This week, he reiterated his views in a letter he wrote to Prime Minister Mark Carney and members of Parliament.
“Our Catholic faith opposes the taking of any life, and it is with great disappointment and anguish that we have seen our country expand MAID at a rapid and alarming rate,” Leo explained. Assisted suicide and euthanasia are “contrary to the dignity of the human person.”
His Eminence also urged lawmakers to “choose life and not death” and not to allow a planned March 2027 expansion of assisted suicide laws for those with mental illness to take place.
During the hearing Wednesday, Kennedy agreed to work with Lankford in his efforts to protect life. “I don’t think we can be a moral society, we can’t be a moral society around the globe, if that becomes institutionalized throughout our society,” he said.
The Catholic Church teaches that suicide of any kind, whether done with the help of a medical professional or on one’s own, is a grave sin since God is the author of life.
According to government documentation, nearly $100 million of reserved tax credits in California went to the production of just two television shows that have been accused of promoting suicide and teenage sexual promiscuity. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, a bill to legalize assisted suicide failed after massive opposition. “The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill“ ran out of time before it could be passed by the House of Lords by its May deadline.