The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) implements advocacy strategies, trains medical personnel, and promotes the distribution of misoprostol and mifepristone — drugs used in abortions. One of the most serious revelations is that the organization not only pushes for legal abortion but also protects those who perform illegal abortions. It has issued guidelines advising doctors not to report out-of-framework abortions, promoted unsupervised self-managed abortions, and pressured to eliminate conscience objections from professionals.

New York’s proposed Medical Aid in Dying Act threatens to undo this presumption in favour of lifesaving, especially for people with disabilities such as me. The way the bill is drafted is itself prone to abuse, lacking the necessary safeguards to prevent nonconsensual physician-assisted suicide. A lot has been made of abuses in other countries, such as Canada and the Benelux region, where the category of people approved for suicide-by-doctor has steadily expanded to include the mentally ill, those with autism and ADHD, even teenagers.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have advanced a budget bill finally defunding the abortion industry of taxpayer dollars. No Medicaid dollars “shall be used to make payments to a prohibited entity for items and services furnished during a 10-year period,” the bill states. The bill makes exceptions for abortions performed after an instance of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother.

The Royal College of Physicians (the largest college) also this week warned that the legislation does not provide “adequate protection of patients and professionals.” In addition to the bill lacking necessary safeguards, recent reports have also dispelled the myth that all assisted suicide deaths are peaceful.

In a lawsuit against the state, plaintiffs say the reclassification of misoprostol and mifepristone — which, among other applications, can be used as a two-drug regimen to end pregnancies — could cause needless and potentially life-threatening delays in treatment during medical emergencies.