Tag: Assisted Suicide

Canada Stops Short of Allowing Euthanasia Solely for Mental Illness, But Could Still Authorize it for Dementia

The AP reports Canada will not authorize so-called “medical aid in dying” (MAID) for people suffering solely from mental illness, but experts say expansions to the country’s euthanasia laws could authorize it for people with dementia and similar conditions.

When the Canadian Parliament first legalized MAID in 2016, the goal was to let terminally ill people end their lives via assisted suicide. However, since then Canadians have seen the practice expand under a deadly bait and switch.

In the past decade, MAID has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and now accounts for one in 20 Canadian deaths.

The country was scheduled to expand assisted suicide to include people suffering solely from mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. However, Canadian leaders announced earlier this month that they are abandoning that plan.

While that may be good news, the Daily Citizen reports that Canada plans to introduce legislation this fall that would allow euthanasia by “advance request.”

An advance request would function like an advance directive letting doctors euthanize the patient.

Canadian officials note, “An advance request is a request for MAID made by an individual who still has the capacity to make decisions, before they are eligible or want to receive it. Their intent is that MAID be provided in the future after they have lost the capacity to consent and when certain conditions that they specify in their request are met.”

Zachary Mettler at the Daily Citizen describes how this practice could make it possible for Canada to euthanize people suffering from dementia, writing, “For example, someone in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease could request and be approved for euthanasia by advance request and then be killed later after their condition deteriorates and they can no longer agree to be killed.”

This is exactly the slippery slope that pro-life advocates have warned about for years.

Canada’s definition of who qualifies for assisted suicide is already dangerously broad. Patients can be approved for euthanasia based on cancer, organ failure, or neurological conditions. But they can also be killed for diabetes, chronic pain, hearing problems, or even “feelings of loneliness.”

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

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death. That’s why Family Council has spent years opposing assisted suicide and euthanasia in Arkansas. Canada is a clear example of where euthanasia and assisted suicide lead, and Arkansas would be wise not to go there.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Euthanasia Continues to Devastate Canada

Stories out of Canada continue to underscore how devastating euthanasia has been for people living there and for the nation’s healthcare system as a whole.

The Canadian Parliament first legalized so-called “Medical Aid in Dying” in 2016. The goal was to let terminally ill people end their lives via assisted suicide, but Canadians have since seen the practice expand under a deadly bait and switch.

In the past decade, “Medical Aid in Dying” has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and now accounts for one in 20 Canadian deaths. Next year, the country could expand assisted suicide to include people suffering solely from mental health conditions like anxiety or depression. Canadian healthcare officials have even suggested euthanasia be extended to “babies from birth to one year of age who come into the world with severe deformities and very serious syndromes.”

Earlier this year, Texas Right to Life shared a sobering story about Kristin, a wife and mother diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer while living in Canada. Canadian healthcare officials told Kristin that assisted suicide was her only option. Instead, Kristin came to the U.S., where she received surgery and aggressive treatments that saved her life.

Over the summer, a story surfaced about a Canadian grandmother euthanized under “Medical Aid in Dying.” The elderly woman reportedly suffered from poor health, including cognitive problems. The grandmother originally said she did not want to die by assisted suicide, but testimony from her family alleges healthcare professionals misled her about the assisted suicide process and did not get final verbal consent to “assisted suicide” before giving her a lethal injection.

When it comes to assisted suicide and euthanasia, the slippery slope keeps slipping.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia devastate families and rob patients of compassionate care.

In the U.S., assisted suicide has been promoted due to its relatively low cost compared to healthcare. In some cases, insurance companies have refused to pay for patients’ medical care, but have offered to cover assisted-suicide drugs.

You cannot put a price tag on human life. Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

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

That’s why Family Council helped defeat a very bad bill in 2019 that would have let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas and two bad end-of-life bills in 2021. These were flawed measures that fundamentally disrespected the right to life.

We plan to continue working with our friends across the state to protect Arkansans from assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

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Medical Committee Says There Was “No Reasonable Alternative” but Euthanasia for Dutch Toddler

A medical review committee in the Netherlands says there was “no reasonable alternative” but euthanasia for a two-year-old child — even though the child did not have a terminal illness — and determined that the physician who euthanized the child “acted with due care.”

The Netherlands first legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2002, and the practice has expanded drastically over the years. In 2022, a staggering one out of every 20 deaths in the Netherlands were the result of euthanasia. The country has made headlines for letting “mobile euthanasia units” make house calls as well as for euthanizing people suffering from conditions like macular degeneration and mental illness.

But this month, the country drew attention after reports surfaced that a Dutch doctor euthanized a two-year-old child under the nation’s law.

The Dutch Assessment Committee for Late Termination of Pregnancy and Termination of Life in Newborns and Children Aged 1 to 12 Years reviewed the case and determined the doctor who euthanized the child had no other reasonable choices and acted appropriately.

The committee’s report indicated the child was born prematurely at 26 weeks and three days and suffered serious medical complications. The child suffered from brain damage, visual impairment, and epilepsy, which caused developmental delays and made it difficult for the child to communicate. The child’s doctor concluded the child had “a limited life expectancy, with no prospect whatsoever of a better quality of life.”

In other words, the child was euthanized despite not being terminally ill.

Obviously, the child’s medical condition was very serious, but that should not be a death sentence.

An English translation of the medical review committee’s report describes the euthanasia process in chilling detail:

“There are as yet no guidelines for performing the procedure for termination of life in children aged under 12. Based on the parents’ wishes, the physician opted for the method whereby the child was gradually placed under sedation. The physician began the sedation (lowering the level of consciousness) by administering increasing doses of midazolam and morphine through an IV cannula. The physician then administered coma-inducing substances (propofol and thiopental), after which the child reached a state of very deep sedation, and died.”

By now, there should be no doubt that when it comes to assisted suicide and euthanasia, the slippery slope keeps slipping.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia devastate families and rob patients of compassionate care.

In 2018, we shared news out of Belgium that euthanasia and assisted suicide are forcing hospice workers and other palliative care experts to quit. One Belgian doctor said, “palliative care units are . . . at risk of becoming ‘houses of euthanasia’, which is the opposite of what they were meant to be.”

Being pro-life means believing innocent human life is sacred from conception until natural death.

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

That’s why Family Council helped defeat a very bad bill in 2019 that would have let doctors prescribe lethal drugs to patients in Arkansas and two bad end-of-life bills in 2021. These were flawed measures that fundamentally disrespected the right to life.

Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.

READ MORE