HWN Suggests

MAID in Canada

Far be it from me to be flippant or insensitive about a subject as serious as one’s choice of death over a continuation of a life choked in the grip of pain and hopelessness. Nevertheless, this blog supports the notion that laughter is the best medicine. It is in this spirit that we launch into a light-hearted examination of medically assisted death.

Nobody ever lost any sleep deciding when would be the right time to get born. Basically, it happens when it happens, whether you are ready for it or not. There are no decisions you have to make, no financial arrangements to clean up, and no legalities to consider. You just slide down that narrow birth canal and make your entrance, often…

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Featured

 Death Cheaper Than Care in Canada

Not a week goes by where we are not reading one of these stories from Canada, where people are choosing euthanasia and assisted suicide, not because they want to die, but because they cannot afford the treatment or care they need to assist them to live.

 MAID in Canada: What’s Behind the Euthanasia Scandal?

Advocates argue it would be discriminatory to deny assisted suicide to patients with mental illnesses.

 The Outer Limits of Liberalism

Within a few years, Canada went from being a country that had banned assisted suicide to being one of the loosest regimes in the world.

Articles of Interest

Canada’s Ministry of Death

How the euthanasia lobby conquered the Liberal Party

Alex Schadenberg on the Canadian Euthanasia Epidemic

No modern society has embraced lethal injection euthanasia with the enthusiasm of Canada, where not only the terminally ill can be killed by doctors but also people with chronic conditions and disabilities. Soon, people with mental illnesses will qualify for a doctor-hastened death. In 2021, more than 10,000 Canadians were euthanized by doctors or nurse practitioners.

Canadian doctors encouraged to bring up medically assisted death before their patients do

A guidance document produced by Canada’s providers of medically assisted death states that doctors have a professional obligation to bring up MAID.

Encouraged to Die?

This use of MAiD as an option for those suffering grievously, and with little access to a timely and comprehensive health network, is more than unacceptable; it is outrageous.

Get the facts: Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) law

Unlike assisted dying laws in some other jurisdictions, you do not need to have a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible for medical assistance in dying in Canada.

How poverty, not pain, is driving Canadians with disabilities to consider medically-assisted death

Ironically, what started as a compassionate argument to allow chronically ill and disabled people the right to control their own bodies has turned into accusations of discrimination.

Hungry, Poor, and Disabled Canadians Now Seeking Assisted Suicide

Canadian food bank clients and disabled retirees facing financial insecurity are now considering doctor-assisted suicide to avoid living in poverty, several sources have reported.

Medical assistance in dying is a right that needs more limits

Imagine a 70-year-old woman who has suffered from major depressive and post-traumatic stress disorders since she was 18. Imagine she has tried more than 35 different treatments, without success. Imagine she has made 30 suicide attempts, many serious enough to land her in hospital. Should this otherwise healthy woman, who we’ll call “C,” be allowed to apply for a medically assisted death?

Oh, Canada! Your New Law Will Provide, Not Prevent, Suicide for Some Psychiatric Patients

This is a profound change in the trajectory of the euthanasia law, and the practice of psychiatry for Canada, which is now the largest nation that will soon allow MAID for psychiatric conditions. It has rocked the professional mental health community in Canada who fought to forestall the inclusion of psychiatric disorders for euthanasia. Once these procedures were deemed medical procedures, distinguishing eligible patients would be challenging, if not impossible.

Paralympian trying to get wheelchair ramp says Veterans Affairs employee offered her assisted dying

A veteran and former Paralympian told a parliamentary committee that a caseworker from the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) offered her medical assistance in dying (MAID), a week after the veterans affairs minister confirmed that at least four other veterans were offered the same thing.

The barbarism of Canada’s euthanasia regime

When society denies the objective value of human life, no one is safe.

What Euthanasia Has Done to Canada

It is barbaric, however, to establish a bureaucratic system that offers death as a reliable treatment for suffering and enlists the healing profession in delivering this “cure.” And while there may be worse evils ahead, this isn’t a slippery slope argument: When 10,000 people are availing themselves of your euthanasia system every year, you have already entered the dystopia.

Resources

Dying with Dignity Canada

Dying With Dignity Canada is the national human-rights charity committed to improving quality of dying, protecting end-of-life rights, and helping Canadians avoid unwanted suffering.

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

To prepare a well-informed, broadly-based network of organizations and individuals supporting measures that will create an effective social barrier to euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers

Support MAiD assessors and providers in their work; Educate the health care community about MAiD; and Provide leadership on determining standards and guidelines in MAiD provision.

Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia

The Physicians’ Alliance against Euthanasia was founded in 2012 by 24 Quebec doctors, in response to the report of the Quebec government’s Select Committee on Dying with Dignity, which recommended legalization of euthanasia in Quebec, redefining it as health care to escape the Canadian Criminal code prohibition of causing the death of any person, even with his or her consent.

Still Alive-Not Dead Yet

Still Alive-Not Dead Yet is a project of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities to unify and give voice to people with disabilities who oppose euthanasia and assisted suicide. TVNDY is a bilingual, progressive, non-religious organization that provides educational services to realize equal rights and the full range of choices guaranteed by law.

Canadian Physicians for Life

We promote healthcare in the Hippocratic tradition that situates the patient’s good at the heart of all medical practice. We believe that the proper goal of medical science and, therefore, of its practitioners is to preserve and protect human life, to relieve suffering, and to promote healing.