Catholic congressman urges CDC to investigate doctors prescribing assisted suicide for eating disorders

Rep. Riley M. Moore, R-W.Va., announced Sept. 9 that an amendment urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate a troubling medical trend has passed the House Appropriations Committee.

The amendment addresses what Moore described as the “despicable practice” of doctors prescribing assisted suicide to individuals suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia. 

Moore, who is Catholic, expressed strong condemnation of the approach in an X post, arguing that it fails to meet the basic needs of vulnerable patients.

“Suicide is not healthcare,” Moore said. “Counseling patients to pursue assisted suicide for eating disorders like anorexia is inhumane.”

“These patients need sustenance — not suicide,” Moore added.

The measure was advanced Sept. 9 through a Republican amendment package to the FY26 appropriations bill. The committee stated it was “concerned with the potential practice of referring, counseling, prescribing, or administering assisted suicide to individuals suffering from chronic mental health conditions, including anorexia and other eating disorders.” It directed the CDC to provide a report within 180 days on any cases where such practices have taken place.

The amendment echoes growing concern among medical professionals about assisted suicide practices. In June, the American Medical Association overwhelmingly reaffirmed its stance that physician-assisted suicide is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer,” emphasizing that such measures pose serious risks to society and undermine trust in the medical profession.

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