Assisted Death
Euthanasia is an act or failure to act which intentionally causes a person's death.
Assisted Suicide is counselling or aiding someone to kill himself.
Since physician-assisted death by lethal injection (MAiD - Medical Assistance in Dying) was legalized in Canada in 2016, the number of cases has increased dramatically, largely due to original safeguards being removed. It is estimated there have been more than 60,000 Canadian deaths by assisted suicide since legalization. The Fourth Annual Report on MAiD revealed that there were 13,241 MAiD deaths in 2022, a 31.2% increase from 2021.
Total reported deaths by assisted suicide from 2016-2022 were 44,958. The addition of an estimated 16,000 in 2023 brings the number to over 60,000 by year end 2023.
In addition, the Liberal government planned to allow MAiD for reasons of mental illness beginning in March 2024. But after a strong backlash from citizens and mental health experts, the government postponed its implemention until 2027.
MP Ed Fast urges support for Bill C-314 to protect vulnerable Canadians.
There was an attempt to not just postpone but actually reverse MAiD for mental illness when MP Ed Fast introduced Bill C-314 in February 2023. A final vote on moving this bill forward was held October 18, 2023 and was narrowly defeated 167 to 150. All Conservative, NDP, and Green MPs voted in favour, as did eight Liberal MPs. (Find out how your Member of Parliament voted here.)
When Bill C-314 was defeated, it seemed nothing would stand in the way of euthanasia being made available in 2024 for those who have mental illness. But the government did re-strike its Joint Committee that studied assisted suicide earlier in 2023, which gave one more opportunity for Canadians to raise their objections and concerns, which they did, leading to postponement until 2027.
Persons with Eating disorders abroad
In a recent study from Frontiers in Psychiatry which covered a span of 12 years, 2021 - 2024, it was revealed that sixty patients with eating disorders were able to end their lives by euthanasia or doctor assisted suicide in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United States. This study exposes how ideological influence can overshadow medical evidence in these cases. Visit Frontiers in Psychiatry to read the full study.
History of assisted suicide law in canada
Euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legal in Canada since Bill C-14, MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying), was passed in 2016. Bill C-14 contained safeguards to limit the practice to protect vulnerable people. When it was passed, the government promised a thorough review of the law in five years.
Before the review was ever done, the Liberal government passed Bill C-7 on March 17, 2021, which expanded access to assisted suicide and removed safeguards as described below. An Expert Panel was then commissioned, consisting of experts in clinical psychiatry, MAiD assessment and provision, law, ethics, health regulation, and mental health care to study the issue of MAiD for those with mental illness. The panel’s report was released May 6, 2022. For an analysis of the report: https://arpacanada.ca/articles/expert-panel-tables-parliamentary-report-on-assisted-suicide/
Bill C-7
Bill C-7 allows those who are not dying and whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable” to apply for MAID. This would include people with disabilities or chronic but not fatal illnesses.
Bill C-7 removes the 10 day waiting period for those whose death is “reasonably foreseeable.” It would make it possible to apply and receive euthanasia on the same day. For those whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, the waiting period is 90 days.
Bill C-7 allows for advance directives, essentially making it possible for a medical practitioner to proceed with euthanasia when a patient is no longer able to give consent.
Bill C-7 originally allowed assisted suicide for reasons of mental illness alone, beginning in 2023. When mental health experts and citizens across Canada spoke out against it, the government postponed implementing euthanasia for the mentally ill until March 2024.
CONSCIENCE RIGHTS
Bill C-7 does not protect doctors and nurse practitioners from being pressured to participate in an act that violates their conscience. Numerous physicians spoke out against the bill in the months leading up to its passage, and over 1,200 doctors across Canada signed the Physicians Together with Vulnerable Canadians Statement to oppose Bill C-7.
“The reckless removal of safeguards previously deemed essential will place desperately vulnerable patients directly in harm’s way and may cost them their very lives.”
from the Physicians Together with Vulnerable Canadians Statement
Learn more at Canadians for HealthCARE and Conscience.
“Respect for the patient’s wishes is unquestionably part of respecting the patient, but valuing these wishes above the patient herself would prevent doctors from ever refusing any patient request, even if it would clearly harm her health. The long-accepted firm foundation for medical ethics (including the duty to respect the patient’s wishes) is the incalculable intrinsic objective worth of the patient. Intentionally causing death would require us to render valueless that which is of essential value: the patient.
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What can you do?
"Legalized euthanasia is a travesty and no one need avail himself or herself of it. We can still do what we can to educate people and continue to lobby for greatly improved palliative care – which is sorely lacking in Canada. At the moment only 30 per cent of Canadians who need that care can get it.
We can also personally care for others and help people live when they are feeling drawn to end their lives. We can also support the Compassionate Community Care Service that is being promoted by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition." Charles Lewis