In Canada: Suicide is Cheaper Than Healthcare for Some

Last month a Canadian man with ALS made shocking headlines when he opted to take his own life under the country’s assisted suicide and euthanasia laws after the government chose not to provide him with 24-hour home healthcare services due to cost.

Catholic News Agency writes,

Sean Tagert, 41, was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gherig’s disease, in March of 2013. In October 2017, he suffered cardiac arrest, and was subsequently placed on a ventilator. His illness robbed him of the ability to move his body, eat, or speak, and he communicated via an eye-gaze computer. His mental acuity was unaffected. 

At that time, Tagert’s doctors recommended 24-hour in-home care, which is typical for a person who uses a ventilator full time. Vancouver Coastal Health, Tagert’s regional health authority, only initially offered 15.5 hours of care a day. Eventually, after much effort, they increased their offer to 20 hours a day–which still meant that Tagert had to pay $263.50 each day for the remaining four hours of required care. 

To put it bluntly, Tagert chose physician-assisted suicide for financial reasons.

Physician-assisted suicide preys on the poor.

People who who cannot afford medical treatment may feel like assisted suicide is their only choice.

This problem isn’t limited to countries with socialized medicine like Canada.

In parts of the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is legal, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.

As John Stonestreet at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview writes,

What happened in British Columbia can happen in Belgium, and in Oregon, and in New Zealand, and in Colorado, and anywhere physician-assisted suicide is legal.

Being pro-life means believing human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and it means opposing the taking of human life without just cause.

Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.

Assisted Suicide Kills as Many Canadians as Automobiles

Our friends at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview have penned a striking commentary that highlights the realities of physician-assisted suicide in Canada.

John Stonestreet writes,

According to a recent Health Canada report, between January and October, 2018, 2,600 people were euthanized there, an average of 218 a month. Thus, by the end of 2018, it’s likely that at least 3,000 Canadians died by doctor-assisted suicide.

That’s as many people as were killed in automobile accidents that year.


Assisted-suicide is a serious problem. We’re winning the battle to end abortion, but suicide is the next big front in the pro-life fight.

Here’s important information everyone needs to know about assisted-suicide.

Researchers in North America have continued to find that people who ask a doctor to prescribe drugs to help them commit suicide generally aren’t concerned about pain and suffering caused by a terminal illness. They’re worried about losing their autonomy or their way of life.

In Canada — where assisted-suicide is legal — researchers found that people inquired about assisted-suicide not because of excruciating pain, but because they are dissatisfied with their lives in the wake of their illness.

As one researcher put it, “Their quality of life is not what they want. They are mostly educated and affluent — people who are used to being successful and in control of their lives, and it’s how they want their death to be.”

Since 1998, more than 90% of the people who inquired about assisted suicide in Oregon said they were concerned about losing their autonomy. More than 75% expressed worries about losing their dignity. Only 26% said they were concerned about controlling their pain.

Last August we told you Belgian doctors have euthanized at least three minors suffering from brain tumors, muscular dystrophy, and cystic fibrosis. And in October we wrote that Canada’s largest children’s hospital was drafting a policy regarding euthanasia that some say could eventually let children decide to be euthanized without even notifying their parents.

I’ll keep saying it: Being pro-life means believing human life is sacred from conception until natural death, and it means opposing the taking of human life without just cause. Just like abortion, euthanasia and assisted-suicide are murder, and they violate the sanctity of human life.