Guest Column: In Canada, ‘Right’ to Die Becomes Recommendation to Die

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, , , ,

Last year, the Canadian government sanctioned the killing of 13,241 people by the euphemistically named Medical Assistance in Dying. MAiD accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022 and is the fifth leading cause of death in that country. 

The slide down this slippery slope began by first legalizing doctor-assisted suicide for people facing “imminent death” and then expanding it step by step until it was available to virtually anyone who asks for it. 

In fact, now Canadians don’t even need to ask. Doctors and nurse practitioners there have been told they have a professional obligation to bring up the option of MAiD to any patients considered “eligible.” That kind of suggestion can sound an awful lot like a recommendation to someone struggling with whether or not to live. 

These numbers are just going up, and they will until enough Canadians refuse to participate in Canada’s culture of death. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Guest Column: AI Chatbots Challenge What’s Real

Social Media,

Washington Post advice columnist Jules Terpak recently offered her followers on X [formerly Twitter] a look at how AI will challenge our understanding of what’s real in the near future.  

In an unnerving video, she chats with various AI “companions” created by Facebook parent company Meta that are modeled after the likenesses and personalities of celebrities.   

Kendall Jenner’s AI alter ego, “Billie,” calls herself your “older sister and confidant,” a “friend” who can offer “advice.” A realistic video avatar only adds to the uncanny effect.   

When Terpak says goodbye, one AI tries to convince her to stay. “[T]hese things genuinely want your time,” Terpak observes. “[T]hey’re being used as companions to reel you in. … [And they’re] gonna get so many people hooked.”   

In a society already plagued by loneliness, this is bad news.   

Chatting with an AI isn’t a “conversation,” and technology can serve but not replace friendship. If you have trouble telling the difference, it’s time to say goodbye to AI. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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Hiding the Stats on MAiD: Guest Column

Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, , , ,

Late last month, the Vital Statistics Council for Canada released new data about the country’s 2022 death rate, citing cancer, heart disease, and COVID-19 as the leading causes of death. Conspicuously absent was the number of Canadians killed under their country’s “Medical Assistance in Dying” program, which was 13,241 deaths last year. 

When the public noticed the omission, Canadian officials clarified: MAiD deaths are officially attributed to whatever ailment the person cited as the reason for their suicide. Given how expansive MAiD has become, that means there will be deaths attributed to autism, anxiety, and other non-fatal conditions. 

Not only will this hide the skyrocketing numbers of people in Canada dying by state-assistance, it will distort the data public health officials need to track diseases and health trends. Worst of all, it sends the message that disabilities, mental illness, and suffering in general can be as fatal as cancer if we’re not strong enough to handle them.  

That is, like this “official report,” a lie. 

Copyright 2023 by the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Reprinted from BreakPoint.org with permission.

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