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Former Iowa senate staffer with Alzheimer’s disease dies by assisted suicide
UPDATE 8/18/26: Former Iowa senate staffer and communications director Rusty Martin has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland. According to CBS 2 Iowa, Martin died on August 18 after taking a lethal dose of medication prescribed by a doctor to end his life. His wife, Kathy, posted of his death on his Facebook account.
On August 12, he posted a goodbye message on Facebook, saying, "Tomorrow morning, I’m leaving Iowa for the last time." He urged people to vote to legalize assisted suicide:
Alzheimer's is a fatal, incurable disease that gets worse as you go along. That’s why I started planning to legally end my life the day I was diagnosed. Unfortunately, to end my life in a legal, dignified manner, I’m forced to travel halfway around the world to Switzerland.
Why? What is the point of keeping my body alive years after I’ve lost my mind? I believe each of us has the right to a dignified death.
Many Iowans have told me they agree. They want the option to die peacefully, at home, while they are still able to make this decision. There are too many painful stories of loved ones who needlessly suffered, sometimes while begging for a more dignified death.
Iowans, we can and should do better.
There’s an election this November. Please ask the candidates for governor and the state legislature if they support the right to die with dignity.
It’s up to you to change our state’s laws.
Martin wondered what the point was in keeping his body alive and believed that "a more dignified death" required him to carry out suicide. He was wrong. There is nothing undignified about living out every day of your life, regardless of the circumstances surrounding those days. Human dignity does not depend on memory, mental clarity, or level of independence. Martin would not have been a burden and his life would still have meaning.
8/12/26: Rusty Martin, a former senate staffer from Iowa, recently announced that he has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and plans to travel to Switzerland to be euthanized. He is also calling for assisted suicide and euthanasia to be more widely legalized in the United States.
Martin spent over 20 years as communications director for Iowa Senate Democrats, and retired when he began struggling with the duties of his job.
Not long after retiring, he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.
He has announced that he will travel to Switzerland to be euthanized, and called for assisted suicide and euthanasia to be legalized more widely across the country.
Martin, 66, made an announcement on social media last month, as well as in an op-ed, about his diagnosis. He also stated his decision to travel to Zurich, Switzerland, to be euthanized.
Writing for the Des Moines Register, he explained that he was struggling during his last few years as a senate staffer, symptoms he didn't realize were from Alzheimer's:
I was miserable during my last couple of years in the Legislature. The systems I had built were falling apart. I was missing meetings and making lots of mistakes. I responded by doubling down and trying harder. It didn’t work.
The people I worked with knew I was struggling. So did I. I saw my doctor. I saw counselors. I took antidepressants. I made lots of to-do lists. Things just kept getting worse.
Finally, I gave up and retired.
It was only after retiring that he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, a less common version of the disease. While Martin was devastated, he also was relieved to have an explanation for what had happened to him.
For now, he is on medication and says physical activity helps his mind remain sharp. His family is supportive and caring for him, and his life — despite the diagnosis — is good.
"I have an amazing wife, family, and friends. I enjoy travel and being outdoors," he said. "Kay Meyer, my wife of 28 years, is primary reason my life is so good. She does almost everything. She handles the money, the doctor visits, makes sure I take my medicine, manages my daily schedule, and so much more."
Yet he still plans to undergo euthanasia in Switzerland.
Martin said he will die in August, while he is still lucid enough to make that decision.
"The day I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I decided I would not let the disease slowly kill me. Instead, I would choose the day of my death. I will not let Alzheimer’s completely take my mind. Or warehouse me in a nursing home. Or set me in conflict with my wife or other loved ones," he explained. "I’m going to Switzerland instead. Several organizations there help people end their lives, legally, peacefully. My Alzheimer’s journey will end this month. With my wife and my two sons, I will travel to a suburb of Zurich to die."
He further wrote that he would prefer to be killed in Iowa, and decried safeguards that prevent abuse; bizarrely, he pointed to Canada as an example of a country with easily-accessible assisted suicide and euthanasia while still maintaining what he said were "adequate" safeguards:
Why am I forced to travel to a foreign country, far away from my family and friends, to exercise this right? I would rather stick around longer and take physician-prescribed medication to end my life in Iowa. Surely we can do better.
More states, including Illinois, are giving their residents more end-of-life autonomy.
Even those laws, however, require a doctor to declare that the person seeking to end their life has six months or less to live. That requirement fails Alzheimer’s patients. My body could live on for years after my mind is gone.
He concluded that killing himself is a "rational, reasonable" response to being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and called for euthanasia to be legalized in Iowa.
Promoting assisted suicide and euthanasia as solutions for Alzheimer's and dementia is irresponsible at best.
As it is, people who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s are being increasingly pressured toward assisted suicide, and all the while, people who murder their spouses in so-called "mercy killings" are similarly romanticized, with the murders culturally justified because caring for someone with a terminal disease is seen as too much of a "burden."
This argument also weakens the moral requirement of "do no harm," and instead furthers the idea that patients with dementia are better off dead than alive.
Allowing advance requests for euthanasia is also rife with potential for abuse. It removes one of the most significant safeguards ensuring people being killed are not being pressured or abused.
There are already many stories of people who initially thought they would want to die in the future, but changed their minds later. Yet with an advance request in place, that person could still legally be killed against their will.
Canada — the country Martin promoted for how easily accessible assisted suicide and euthanasia are — has become so extreme on the issue that it has caused international controversy, with deaths from the program skyrocketing. As Live Action News previously explained:
The hyper-promotion and acceptance of MAiD in Canada has certainly been successful; an estimated 17,000 people were killed in 2025 alone, and deaths from MAiD now make up five percent (5%) of all deaths in Canada. The country is slated to allow MAiD for mental illness in 2027.
Reports have shown that people have been offered MAID for reasons like poverty, homelessness, and an inability to access disability or mental health services; already, over a fifth of applicants claim “isolation or loneliness” as reasons for their request to die.
Living with an Alzheimer's diagnosis is undeniably difficult and tragic. However, that does not mean people with dementia are better off dead than alive.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Former Iowa senate staffer with Alzheimer’s disease dies by assisted suicide
UPDATE 8/18/26: Former Iowa senate staffer and communications director Rusty Martin has died by assisted suicide in Switzerland. According to CBS 2 Iowa, Martin died on August 18 after taking a lethal dose of medication prescribed by a doctor to end his life. His wife, Kathy, posted of his death on his Facebook account.
On August 12, he posted a goodbye message on Facebook, saying, "Tomorrow morning, I’m leaving Iowa for the last time." He urged people to vote to legalize assisted suicide:
Alzheimer's is a fatal, incurable disease that gets worse as you go along. That’s why I started planning to legally end my life the day I was diagnosed. Unfortunately, to end my life in a legal, dignified manner, I’m forced to travel halfway around the world to Switzerland.
Why? What is the point of keeping my body alive years after I’ve lost my mind? I believe each of us has the right to a dignified death.
Many Iowans have told me they agree. They want the option to die peacefully, at home, while they are still able to make this decision. There are too many painful stories of loved ones who needlessly suffered, sometimes while begging for a more dignified death.
Iowans, we can and should do better.
There’s an election this November. Please ask the candidates for governor and the state legislature if they support the right to die with dignity.
It’s up to you to change our state’s laws.
Martin wondered what the point was in keeping his body alive and believed that "a more dignified death" required him to carry out suicide. He was wrong. There is nothing undignified about living out every day of your life, regardless of the circumstances surrounding those days. Human dignity does not depend on memory, mental clarity, or level of independence. Martin would not have been a burden and his life would still have meaning.
8/12/26: Rusty Martin, a former senate staffer from Iowa, recently announced that he has been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease and plans to travel to Switzerland to be euthanized. He is also calling for assisted suicide and euthanasia to be more widely legalized in the United States.
Martin spent over 20 years as communications director for Iowa Senate Democrats, and retired when he began struggling with the duties of his job.
Not long after retiring, he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's.
He has announced that he will travel to Switzerland to be euthanized, and called for assisted suicide and euthanasia to be legalized more widely across the country.
Martin, 66, made an announcement on social media last month, as well as in an op-ed, about his diagnosis. He also stated his decision to travel to Zurich, Switzerland, to be euthanized.
Writing for the Des Moines Register, he explained that he was struggling during his last few years as a senate staffer, symptoms he didn't realize were from Alzheimer's:
I was miserable during my last couple of years in the Legislature. The systems I had built were falling apart. I was missing meetings and making lots of mistakes. I responded by doubling down and trying harder. It didn’t work.
The people I worked with knew I was struggling. So did I. I saw my doctor. I saw counselors. I took antidepressants. I made lots of to-do lists. Things just kept getting worse.
Finally, I gave up and retired.
It was only after retiring that he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's, a less common version of the disease. While Martin was devastated, he also was relieved to have an explanation for what had happened to him.
For now, he is on medication and says physical activity helps his mind remain sharp. His family is supportive and caring for him, and his life — despite the diagnosis — is good.
"I have an amazing wife, family, and friends. I enjoy travel and being outdoors," he said. "Kay Meyer, my wife of 28 years, is primary reason my life is so good. She does almost everything. She handles the money, the doctor visits, makes sure I take my medicine, manages my daily schedule, and so much more."
Yet he still plans to undergo euthanasia in Switzerland.
Martin said he will die in August, while he is still lucid enough to make that decision.
"The day I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I decided I would not let the disease slowly kill me. Instead, I would choose the day of my death. I will not let Alzheimer’s completely take my mind. Or warehouse me in a nursing home. Or set me in conflict with my wife or other loved ones," he explained. "I’m going to Switzerland instead. Several organizations there help people end their lives, legally, peacefully. My Alzheimer’s journey will end this month. With my wife and my two sons, I will travel to a suburb of Zurich to die."
He further wrote that he would prefer to be killed in Iowa, and decried safeguards that prevent abuse; bizarrely, he pointed to Canada as an example of a country with easily-accessible assisted suicide and euthanasia while still maintaining what he said were "adequate" safeguards:
Why am I forced to travel to a foreign country, far away from my family and friends, to exercise this right? I would rather stick around longer and take physician-prescribed medication to end my life in Iowa. Surely we can do better.
More states, including Illinois, are giving their residents more end-of-life autonomy.
Even those laws, however, require a doctor to declare that the person seeking to end their life has six months or less to live. That requirement fails Alzheimer’s patients. My body could live on for years after my mind is gone.
He concluded that killing himself is a "rational, reasonable" response to being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and called for euthanasia to be legalized in Iowa.
Promoting assisted suicide and euthanasia as solutions for Alzheimer's and dementia is irresponsible at best.
As it is, people who suffer from dementia and Alzheimer’s are being increasingly pressured toward assisted suicide, and all the while, people who murder their spouses in so-called "mercy killings" are similarly romanticized, with the murders culturally justified because caring for someone with a terminal disease is seen as too much of a "burden."
This argument also weakens the moral requirement of "do no harm," and instead furthers the idea that patients with dementia are better off dead than alive.
Allowing advance requests for euthanasia is also rife with potential for abuse. It removes one of the most significant safeguards ensuring people being killed are not being pressured or abused.
There are already many stories of people who initially thought they would want to die in the future, but changed their minds later. Yet with an advance request in place, that person could still legally be killed against their will.
Canada — the country Martin promoted for how easily accessible assisted suicide and euthanasia are — has become so extreme on the issue that it has caused international controversy, with deaths from the program skyrocketing. As Live Action News previously explained:
The hyper-promotion and acceptance of MAiD in Canada has certainly been successful; an estimated 17,000 people were killed in 2025 alone, and deaths from MAiD now make up five percent (5%) of all deaths in Canada. The country is slated to allow MAiD for mental illness in 2027.
Reports have shown that people have been offered MAID for reasons like poverty, homelessness, and an inability to access disability or mental health services; already, over a fifth of applicants claim “isolation or loneliness” as reasons for their request to die.
Living with an Alzheimer's diagnosis is undeniably difficult and tragic. However, that does not mean people with dementia are better off dead than alive.
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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