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I write today with a heavy but determined heart, as we witness deeply troubling developments abroad and here at home.
Just this week, the U.K. Catholic Medical Association (CMA) issued a strong warning against a proposed bill in the British Parliament that would legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill adults. The CMA expressed grave concern that this bill, cloaked in euphemistic language like “assisted dying,” would endanger the safety and dignity of vulnerable patients and undermine the ethical foundations of medicine.
What is happening in the United Kingdom is not isolated. In fact, it mirrors the quiet yet steady erosion of the sanctity of human life taking place across the United States too. As of 2025, physician-assisted suicide—now commonly referred to as “medical aid in dying” (MAID)—is legal in a growing number of U.S. jurisdictions: California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. In each of these cases, the law permits a terminally ill individual to request and self-administer life-ending drugs, typically prescribed by a physician.
While advocates argue these laws promote autonomy and relieve suffering, we know the deeper truth: life is sacred from conception to natural death. These laws create a dangerous precedent, weakening our collective commitment to protect the vulnerable and shifting the medical profession away from healing and toward harm. The reality is stark—where there is insufficient care and community, despair grows, and death is offered as a solution.
This is not just a political issue. It is a leadership crisis—specifically, a Catholic leadership crisis.
These laws are being enacted and normalized in part because there are not enough lay Catholics courageously stepping forward to lead in civil society. We are not showing up in sufficient numbers where it counts: in politics, public policy, law, medicine, media, education, and every other arena that shapes the moral direction of our culture. Our absence allows the culture of death to advance unopposed.
At Tepeyac Leadership, we believe it is our duty as lay Catholics to bring Christ into every corner of public life—not just within the walls of the Church. We were never meant to be passive observers. We are called to be salt and light, transforming the world through our faithful witness and active leadership. This is why our mission is more urgent than ever. The time to raise up principled, courageous, and competent Catholic leaders is now.
I ask for your prayers, your continued support, and your commitment to this mission. Let us recommit ourselves to forming leaders who will defend the dignity of every human person, especially the most vulnerable.
If not us, who? And if not now, when?
P.S. The Tepeyac Leadership Gala is around the corner! Support our apostolate by registering to attend the Gala or making a gift now. No amount is too small/large. THANK YOU!
Cristofer Pereyra is the CEO of Tepeyac Leadership, Inc., a global Catholic apostolate dedicated to forming lay Catholics for leadership in civic society. Follow him on Instagram and LinkedIn
