by Kelly Heilman, C-FamEU-backed groups promoted an international right to assisted suicide and government-sanctioned euthanasia programs in negotiations of a new legally binding UN treaty on the rights of older persons last week. The EU-funded non-governmental organization AGE Platform Europe criticized the fact that assisted suicide is usually seen as a “taboo” subject. France recently legalized euthanasia and has been heavily criticized for not adopting sufficient safeguards for disabled, elderly, or mentally impaired individuals. At the same time, countries where euthanasia is already legal, including Canada, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, are increasingly coming under fire for allowing assisted suicide for children, the elderly, and disabled persons, and persons only diagnosed with depression. The World Health Organization does not oppose assisted suicide.