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MAiD advocate speaks out against expansion of euthanasia to the mentally ill

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Professor Sonu Gaind

From LifeSiteNews

By Carlos Prado and Dorothy Cummings McLean

‘not so much a slippery slope as a runaway train.’

A leading Canadian psychiatrist has testified that Canada is “not ready” to offer euthanasia to the mentally ill.

Doctor K. Sonu Gaind, who supports euthanasia under certain circumstances, testified on November 28 before the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Ottawa against expanding the practice.

“This expansion is not so much a slippery slope as a runaway train,” he declared.

Gaind underscored that he is not a “conscientious objector” to euthanasia and that he was the chair of his prior hospital’s MAiD team. His principal concern is to protect those with mental illness.

“MAiD is for irremediable medical conditions, ones that we can predict won’t improve,” he said.

“Worldwide evidence shows we cannot predict irremediability in cases of mental illness, meaning the primary safeguard underpinning MAiD is already bypassed,” he continued.

The leading psychiatrist added, “Scientific evidence shows we cannot distinguish suicidality caused by mental illness from motivations leading to psychiatric MAiD requests … .[There are] overlapping characteristics suggesting there may be no distinction to make.”

RELATED: Top Canadian psychiatrists urge gov’t to halt expansion of euthanasia to the mentally ill

Gaind directly addressed the claims of “discrimination” made by those in support of the expansion of MAiD, including Senator Stanley Kutcher and Dr. Mona Gupta.

“That is the ultimate discrimination.”

Gaind also took issue with statements made by Dr. Jocelyn Downie, a leading euthanasia activist and Trudeau Foundation Fellow.

“Professor Downie claimed, ‘Irremediability is a legal term rather than a clinical concept.’ Try those mental gymnastics on your constituents,” Gaind said dryly.

“Convince them it was okay their loved ones with mental illness got MAiD, not because of a clinical assessment based in medicine or science, but on the ethics of the particular assessor.”

RELATED: Trudeau Foundation fellow cites ‘privilege’ to justify expanding euthanasia to the mentally ill

Gaind criticized the euthanasia curriculum used by the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) for not teaching users how to differentiate between “suicidality” and “psychiatric MAiD requests.”

“A key problem with psychiatric MAiD assessments [is] the hubris of the assessor thinking they can determine irremediability and distinguish suicidality from psychiatric MAiD requests, when evidence shows they can do neither,” he said.

Based on all the evidence, Gaind is convinced that direct euthanasia should not be offered to the mentally ill.

“I’ve reviewed our legislation, the Health Canada practice standard, and the CAMAP training for MAiD for mental illness,” he said. “As someone who supports MAiD in general, I assure you: we are not ready.”

Gaind included in his fast-paced, passionate speech an admonishment of those who support expansion of MAiD.

“An echo chamber has driven expansion with reassurances but no safeguards,” he asserted. “It’s reassurance theatre.”

Gaind is a University of Toronto governor and professor of psychiatric medicine. In addition, he is Chief of the Department of Psychiatry at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and past president of Canadian Psychiatric Association.

Former Bill C-7, which allows for euthanasia on the grounds of mental illness, was passed into law in early 2021. However, the eligibility of the mentally ill to be killed was delayed for two years. The exclusion was extended in February 2023 and then extended again in March to last until March 17, 2024.

In October this year, Conservative MP Ed Fast introduced Bill C-314, an effort to “amend the Criminal Code to provide that a mental disorder is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying.”

When put to a vote, the Bill was defeated 167 to 150.

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MAiD

Quebec set to take euthanasia requests in advance, violating federal law

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From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Quebec has the highest rate of MAiD in Canada. The province saw a 17 percent increase in euthanasia deaths in 2023 compared to 2022, with the program claiming the lives of 5,686 people. The high figure represents a staggering 7.3 percent of all deaths in the province, putting Quebec at the top of the list worldwide.

Despite the practice being illegal at the federal level, Quebec says it plans to go ahead with taking euthanasia requests in advance.

In an October 24 post on X, Sonia Bélanger, the Quebec minister responsible for seniors,  announced that the province would be moving forward with taking “advance requests” for euthanasia, called “Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD),” regardless of the policy’s violation of the Criminal Code of Canada.

As it stands, in order for a person to be killed by euthanasia in Canada, they must provide “consent” at the time of the procedure. So-called “advance requests” would allow a person to approve their killing at a future date, meaning the procedure would be carried out even if they are incapable of consenting, due to diminished mental capacity or other factors, when the pre-approved death date comes.

“Quebec has full jurisdiction to legislate in the area of ​​health care,” Bélanger wrote in French. “The advance request for MAiD is a consensus in Quebec.” 

 

“This is a real concern for Quebecers and on October 30, we will respect their choices by moving forward,” Bélanger continued.   

In September, the province announced they would soon be taking advance requests for MAiD after the June 2023 passing of Bill 11.

In Canada, there are two euthanasia laws, those passed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and those passed solely in the province of Quebec. The 2023 passing of Bill 11 in Quebec expanded MAiD to those with serious physical disability, mandated that hospices offer the procedure and allowed euthanasia by advance request. 

The decision to enact the legislation came after senior ministers from the provincial government said they would not “wait any longer” for Canada’s federal Criminal Code to be amended to allow the change. 

“The Criminal Code has not changed. It is still illegal in this country under the Criminal Code to enact advance requests,” federal Health Minister Mark Holland said during an October 28 press conference before adding that he “can’t direct” how a province administers its “judicial system” and that is is “extremely important to say that we have a spirit of cooperation here, that the issue that Quebec raises is a legitimate and fair issue.”

Holland also said that the federal government will launch a countrywide consultation regarding the practice of advance requests in November, with a report due in March 2025.  

Quebec has the highest rate of MAiD in Canada. The province saw a 17 percent increase in euthanasia deaths in 2023 compared to 2022, with the program claiming the lives of 5,686 people. The high figure represents a staggering 7.3 percent of all deaths in the province, putting Quebec at the top of the list worldwide.

MAiD is not just on the rise in Quebec but throughout Canada as well. Since legalizing the deadly practice at the federal level in 2016, Trudeau’s Liberal government has continued to expanded who can qualify for death. In 2021, the Trudeau government passed a bill that permitted the killing of those who are not terminally ill, but who suffer solely from chronic disease. The government has also attempted to expand the practice to those suffering solely from mental illness, but have delayed until 2027 after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces.

Overall, the number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher. 

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MAiD

New report shows people are seeking euthanasia because they’re ‘isolated,’ afraid of being homeless

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From LifeSiteNews

By Susan Ciancio, American Life League

According to Ontario’s chief coroner, ‘people asking to be killed’ through euthanasia ‘were more likely to require disability support and be socially isolated,’ and one woman in her 50s ‘asked to die largely because she could not get proper housing.’

Those of us who value the life of all human beings understand the dangers of assisted suicide, or “medical assistance in dying,” as it is euphemistically called in Canada. But now, others have begun to see the horrors of Canada’s laws. A recent article in the Frederick News-Post begins, “An expert committee reviewing euthanasia deaths in Canada’s most populous province has identified several cases where patients asked to be killed in part for social reasons such as isolation and fears of homelessness.” 

The article examines reports issued by Ontario’s chief coroner, who reviewed the euthanasia deaths of those who did not have an allegedly terminal illness. It explains that “Canada’s legal criteria require a [purported] medical reason for euthanasia—a fatal diagnosis or unmanageable pain—but the committee’s reports show cases where people were euthanized based on other factors including an ‘unmet social need.’”

A doctor on this expert committee said she feels vindicated that people are seeing the horrors of what Canada’s laws are doing to people. She stated, “We’ve been gaslit for so many years when we raised fears about people getting MAiD because they were poor, disabled or socially isolated.”

Two such cases were discussed in the article. One was a man in his 40s who suffered with a bowel disease and who had a history of both mental illness and substance abuse. The report described him as “socially vulnerable and isolated.”

The second was a woman in her 50s who was “suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome” and who had a history of PTSD and mental illness. The report states that “she was socially isolated and asked to die largely because she could not get proper housing.”

This report emphasizes what those of us in the pro-life field have been saying for years. Euthanasia is a slippery slope. For example, when a country or a state allows a sick or dying person to end his life prematurely, we open the door for ambiguity of the word “sick.” 

Indeed, what is most disturbing about the findings of this report is that the Ontario coroner found that the “people asking to be killed were more likely to require disability support and be socially isolated.”

What does that say about us as a society when people would rather die because they feel they have no one to help take care of them? 

Our society puts more emphasis on what a person can do than on who a person is. Human beings have become like commodities that we discard when they are no longer useful. 

Caring for others should not be something we are forced to do. It should be something we lovingly do. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, it can be incredibly difficult to care for someone who is sick or dying. That’s why it should never be something done alone. It takes a team of caregivers – from family, to friends, to sometimes paid staff in facilities or those who make house calls.

For years, I have seen this loving care firsthand with my uncle, whose wife passed away last week after battling dementia. He cared for her at home until he was physically unable to do so. The disease made her combative, and for his health and her safety, he moved her into a care facility. 

But unlike some facilities that have staff who leave residents alone in their rooms or in chairs in large common rooms, those at this facility cared for her. My uncle visited her daily, and he always had glowing remarks about how kindly the staff treated her. 

My uncle is a model of self-giving love that is increasingly uncommon in today’s world. He didn’t stop loving his wife when she became ill. He didn’t think she was better off dead. He didn’t find her to be a burden. On the contrary, he continued to love her because of who she was. The disease stole her memory, but it did not steal his love for her. 

This is the epitome of loving care. This is what it means to be Christ’s hands on earth and to see people with His eyes. 

Suffering is never easy, but walking with someone in their suffering is what we are called to do. My uncle did that beautifully, and he is a model to other struggling caregivers.  

If everyone who was sick or suffering had people to lovingly care for and protect them, I daresay that the desire for assisted suicide would greatly diminish. After all, who would want to hasten death when they feel loved and cherished?

Susan Ciancio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has worked as a writer and editor for over 20 years; 15 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine—the nation’s premier Catholic pro-life magazine. She is also the director and executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program—a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organization.

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