Euthanasia in Canada
Our humane and friendly neighbor to the north:
[In 2015] Canada’s highest court determined that assisted suicide would be ethical only “with respect to voluntary adults who are competent, informed, grievously and irremediably ill,” and only when it would be “clearly consistent with the patient’s wishes and best interests, and [provided] in order to relieve suffering.” …
When critics argued that the ruling would result in euthanasia being offered to the mentally ill, the depressed, those with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed such concerns, saying, “this simply isn’t something that ends up happening.” He was wrong. In 2021, Parliament removed the law’s previous requirement that a person’s natural death must be imminently foreseeable for him to elect suicide. …
The expanded MAID [Medical Assistance in Dying] policy did not distinguish between medical infirmities and avoidable suffering caused by neglect or poverty. Bioethicists Kayla Wiebe and Amy Mullin contended that Canada should not deny people assisted suicide if living conditions make their lives intolerable. Physicians have offered MAID to people who cannot afford housing or find proper medical care. A rogue bureaucrat within Canada’s department of veterans affairs offered MAID to an elderly veteran struggling to make ends meet; the matter was turned over to the police.
Canada’s euthanasia regime has grown rapidly since 2021. According to the Fourth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022, “the most commonly cited sources of suffering by individuals requesting MAID were the loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities (86.3%), followed by loss of ability to perform activities of daily living (81.9%) and inadequate control of pain, or concern about controlling pain (59.2%).”
Back in the late 1990s, when I was having chronic pain from several nerve injuries, I was in an internet discussion and support group for people with similar problems. At the time, I knew nothing about health care in Canada or Britain. But within that group it did not escape my notice that participants from those countries with chronic pain were suffering more, and longer, than people in the US, for the simple reason that their strained government health care systems gave such problems an extremely low priority. They were underdiagnosed and undertreated, and although that was sometimes the case in the US it was quite clear that it was far worse in Canada and Britain
I guess this “solves” the problem:
More than 13,000 people in Canada were euthanized in 2022, an annual rise of 31.2 percent since 2021. In 2022, 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country were the result of euthanasia; MAID could now be listed as the nation’s fifth-leading cause of death. Nearly 45,000 people have been euthanized since 2016, when Parliament first introduced MAID legislation. This number will keep rising as stigma disappears and MAID advocates continue to push for relaxed standards. The Canadian government seems to be on board with that agenda, as it reportedly plans to make MAID available to anorexics and drug users.
The slippery-slope argument that Trudeau scoffed at has proved true. Simons, a Canadian fashion company, released a disturbing advertisement presenting 37-year-old Jennyfer Hatch’s decision to die as a posh lifestyle choice. A funeral home in Montreal notably offers a $700 “turnkey” package of MAID and funeral.
It’s a bargain, both for the person and for the state.
Many people criticize slippery-slope arguments, but it seems clear to me that they are often valid. We’ve seen time and again that in the case of euthanasia the policy nearly always (perhaps even always?) follows that downward trajectory. There’s really very little to stop it.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, and I cannot help but wonder if the Trudeau government’s seeming enthusiasm for euthanizing its elderly could have anything to do with that cohort’s being largely white? Trudeau is an unabashed fan of turning this country into a land without a single culture or dominant ethnic group, so euthanasia would certainly be a way of bringing that about more quickly. After all, it’s not like the men in his family don’t have a history of getting rid of their political adversaries.
This is nothing new. I recall a WSJ article published back when I was still in practice (30 years ago) about euthanasia in Holland. If a patient with COPD was admitted to an ER needing a respirator, he/she was euthanized. No consent, no discussion. Just a lethal injection of morphine. If such a patient was admitted to the hospital, the ER doc was fired. There was no public acknowledgement of the policy.
If I repeat my open-thread comment from a week ago, will it be used by a hidden online scoring system that secretly tabulates points towards a diagnosis of malignant narcissism? Or am I just being paranoid? Oh well, it’s all part of the zeitgeist. I still think that these three stories are somehow connected.
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Cornflour on October 27, 2023 at 10:09 am said:
Many years ago, as children in an historiography class, we talked about zeitgeist. Hegel coined the word, but was that enough to discredit the idea?
Three stories ripped from today’s headlines:
In Canada last year, legal medically-assisted suicide went up 31.2% and now accounts for 4.1% of the country’s deaths (https://tinyurl.com/3zz5z7zb). In March, those stricken with a mental illness, but no other malady, will become eligible for this suicide service, which is widely understood to be much cheaper than other forms of health care. Since Canada has socialized medicine, very long waits for treatment are common. Not so, for the death option.
In China, the land of social credit, neurosurgeons are installing brain pacemakers in depressed patients. The device is installed in the chest and sends electrical pulses to electrodes implanted in the head. Patients can press a button to change their mood (https://tinyurl.com/trmdruk9).
In the United States, approximately 3% of young women have signed up to create content for “Onlyfans,” a do-it-yourself interactive pornography platform. Some of these young women have become fantastically rich (https://tinyurl.com/mr7xaxpe).
To me euthanasia and suicide are different things, with the former being a form of homicide. This is especially so when the person, or entity, facilitating the death has an interest that is improved by the death. Also, very different from withholding of care such as in response to the existence of a Do Not Resuscitate order created by the patient.
“After all, it’s not like the men in his family don’t have a history of getting rid of their political adversaries.”
Fascinating!
(Are there any examples…? But let’s try to play by the rules that insist that the younger Trudeau IS, in fact, Pierre Elliott’s son…)
Mike K, I have also observed similar private decisions by physicians, and unacknowledged. But it was more rare.
I think Neo is right, it is a slippery slope in which euthanasia is becoming more publicly acceptable.
Only a matter of time before cattle cars again when someone can judge another as possessing a worthless life…
Complicating this is the current federal policy against adequately treating pain in the USA (don’t know about Canada).
Those of us with experience in the medical industry know how people with chronic pain who were once adequately and effectively treated with relatively large doses of opiates are now suffering severe pain and being rendered dysfunctional by the current war on opiates.
If I were unfortunate enough to develop a chronic painful condition, in the absence of effective medical treatment, I would definitely like to have a way out of misery.
Yet another thing that the the government with the best of intentions has f’ed up.
Neo, now here in the US we have the withholding of pain meds because the patient might become addicted. So terminal patients are in great pain.
No one knows someone else’s pain. I learned that with my Father’s final illness. My Dad requested that Hospice come in and they did use Pain meds. My Dad was no “sissy” but he was in great pain and the meds helped.
SHIREHOME; West TX Intermediate Crude:
Yes, pain treatment has become worse in the US since the time I was on that discussion board. But diagnosis – the wait for an MRI, for example – is still better here than in Canada and Britain, as far as I know.
The Left has never lost its enthusiasm for eugenics.
Or killing people they don’t like.
SHIREHOME: And then there are the more enlightened practitioners, like my dad’s former internist.
My dad was in hospice care the last 6 months of his life, and he was on a pretty powerful dose on Vicodin for the compression factures that 40 years of a 2-pack-a-day cigarette habit had left him with. When Dad’s doctor found out he was cutting his dosage in half on his own, the doctor told him very bluntly that it was way too late in the game for him to worry about becoming an addict.
The Left are the people who get to decide who are lebens unwerte leben.
Back in the 90’s, I was in an online support group for families with children who had Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernias.
These were children who were born with holes in their diaphragms that led to a varying degree of other health problems. Sometimes no other health problems at all.
Almost none of the families who had children diagnosed with this defect had a living child with this condition UNLESS they were born in the USA. And absolutely anywhere with government healthcare resulted in a dead baby one way or the other. If they were diagnosed in utero an abortion was mandated. If they were diagnosed after birth, treatment consisting of a rather simple surgical repair, was withheld.
Too expensive, don’t you know?
This sort of thing has been going on for decades. They are just widening the nets.
My stepfather developed cancer that had spread from his lungs to his brain. He had less than a month to live and was in intense, unbearable pain. I asked the doctor why they didn’t give him more pain killers. “We don’t want him to become an addict,” was the answer. That was 1953.
After watching the torture he went through, I have never really fully trusted doctors.
That said, I have to be thankful for the three different doctors who provided me with life-saving surgeries at various times in my life.
I’m at that age where I’m thankful to be alive and still able to be relatively active. And, thankfully, I’m not in any pain to speak of.
I am going blind with wet macular degeneration. Treatments have slowed the progression of the macular degeneration such that it’s a question of whether I will die of natural causes or go blind first.
If I go blind, I will lose most of my ability to be independent and will lose one of my greatest pleasures – reading. Not looking forward to that. I hope I will be able to weather that test when it comes.
JJ, hope it won’t come to that, but books on tape and text-to-speech might help a lot. I wonder if there are programs which do that now for online material? My brother-in-law has macular degeneration; it has slowed down with treatment. Hope yours stays that way.
JJ, I have a form of wet macular degeneration called CNV for which I was receiving 4x year injections. I started taking a supplement called berberine, and the progression has stopped—I haven’t needed an injection for more than 18 months.
I did not do this at the suggestion of my doctor. I was taking berberine and several other supplements for another reason and noticed the change. I did some research and found there was some evidence that berberine is helpful. YMMV. I encourage you to do your own research. Wishing you luck.
J.J.:
My mother also had wet macula degeneration that was fairly advanced and then suddenly stopped. I don’t know why it stopped, but she had been on blood thinners and went down to just low dose aspirin, and that coincided with the stoppage.
Mike K @ 4:18pm,
That is despicable!
Cornflour @ 4:22pm,
On the topic of 3% of young women having OnlyFans accounts; you (and I think others here, including neo) will undoubtedly find this interview fascinating: https://youtu.be/shB6ovnjYEs?si=4-ZXKbusFRG2iv2k
The Triggernometry duo interview a woman raised in a Christian, homeschooling family who built a career in sex work as an adult. If a sociologist tried to devise a perfect test in a lab he or she couldn’t have designed anything as remarkable as this woman. It is truly fascinating from a psychological and cultural perspective.
I don’t recall any mention of it, but she appears somewhat autistic to me in that she has an astounding ability to remove emotion from interpersonal (very interpersonal) relationships and her approach to a profession built on feigning emotion and attachment. This is exacerbated by her puritanical upbringing. When she began her path in this career she had almost no knowledge of cultural norms, music, films, romantic comedies…
Because of this she was very systematic in her approach to money and success. Due to her strict, Christian upbringing she had no knowledge of how to intentionally attract men so she went about learning very methodically and she approaches her work like a business executive purely focused on the bottom (no pun intended) line. Just as the head of marketing at McDonalds may look at the prior week’s sales volume and determine people are demanding larger french fry portions, she looks at her Internet traffic and structures new videos on what is bringing in the most money.
It is a fascinating psychological and societal study.
I should add that I was also saddened listening to much of it. Francis and Konstantin do a good job of conducting the interview and even they are somewhat shocked or dejected at times. But she does not come across as a victim or someone who is exploited. However, listening to the interview I couldn’t help but wish she has a change of heart and I also hoped that young women who hear her don’t assume they can do what she does. She is uniquely exceptional in her nature and approach and most women would likely deteriorate attempting to follow her lead.
J.J.,
I hope you live many, many more years and are able to enjoy reading to the very end!
I know I enjoy reading what you write here.
@ Geoffrey Britain
A) The Left has never lost its enthusiasm for eugenics.
• 100% agree.
B) “In time, this confusion will strain our moral system to the breaking point. For a sense of where it will lead, consider Canada’s burgeoning euthanasia regime.”
• 100% agree.
• My mother had a long career in the mental health field, and I grew up understanding that mental illness is another form of illness – should not be stigmatized – and there was never any thought given to killing the mentally ill – that is what the Nazis did, not civilized people.
C) “I was rather proud that Canada has done so well in terms of organ donation by MAID patients,” said Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba,”
• I’ll add that I am 100% appalled by the organ harvesting too, including the celebration of how Canada leads the world in harvesting organs from it’s MAID program.
• For me that is just another layer or evil, if you believe – as I do – that the Canadian government is not motivated by what is best for the individual.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/canada-performing-more-organ-transplants-from-maid-donors-than-any-country-in-the-world-1.6234133
D) “In Canada, patients can wait years for medical treatment in the country’s overburdened and underfunded health-care system. The baby boomer population, as it ages, will only increase the strain on the medical system, the welfare state, and the Canada Pension Plan.
The notion that we have a right, and perhaps an obligation, to die when we become a financial or other “burden” to others is profoundly wrong. It is founded upon hyper-individualism and a misunderstanding of family and community. A person can be considered a burden only if society ceases to believe in mutual commitment and communal support. ”
• During COVID the discussion of socialized medicine – like Canada, France, UK, Germany – was vigorously discussed amongst my friends (which includes folks from countries with socialized medicine).
• The short version of my response & research is that the countries that enact socialized medicine do so because their private sector cannot deliver a functional health care system throughout their nation.
• Look at the nation’ health care system limitations when socialized medicine was enacted, especially the post-WW2 era. And note the absence of nationalizing fully functional private sector systems, in any era.
• That is not the problem the USA is trying to solve, nor the right solution.
Thank you for sharing.
that guy,
I don’t know a lot about it, but I was surprised to learn Germany’s system has more of a private insurance component than I had thought. One of my wife’s cousins married a lawyer who specializes in German health insurance and I’ve had some conversations with her on the topic. My German isn’t 100%, especially when it comes to arcane vocabulary around public policy and insurance, but from what I learned from her it sounded a lot more like our ACA system.
But I’m not sure I understood it correctly. Is there a fairly robust, private system of insurance, physicians and care, or is it akin to England’s NHS?
Thanks for all the encouraging comments. I appreciate the kind thoughts very much.
I’m not on blood thinners. I take Vitamin K, which is supposed to help with the clotting, but so far, no effect.
I will investigate berberine. Fingers crossed.
Books on tape – of course. I would do that. Voice operated computer program. Yes, it’d be worth a try. Keep on trucking. 🙂
Que sera, sera.
it is a slippery slope in which euthanasia is becoming more publicly acceptable.
That, but I’ve always felt the more dangerous slippery slope is that the “option” of euthanasia (for the one choosing to die) becomes an obligation. Perhaps not a legal obligation, but a “moral” one. The one wanting to struggle on and endure pain is made to feel selfish or inconsiderate.
It’s not just Holland and Canada.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161869/Top-doctors-chilling-claim-The-NHS-kills-130-000-elderly-patients-year.html
The rot goes deep: killing (post-birth) children is legal in several countries.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/14/netherlands-to-broaden-euthanasia-rules-to-cover-children-of-all-ages
“The Netherlands will not be the first to allow doctors to assist in the death of children of all ages. Belgium has allowed it since 2014.”
Last season’s conspiracy theory is this season’s news.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26195604/
The abstract doesn’t leave much doubt which side the authors are on.
I have no problem with euthanasia, so long that is it restricted to people diagnosed with life-ending diseases.
Take for example a man who has been the patriarch of the family for forty years, had a successful career, raised a bunch of children, well respected in the community and is diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
He knows his mind is going and will be bed-ridden unable to take care of his most basic bodily functions.
Better to go out while you still have the respect of your family and do not wish to be a burden to them.
The notion that healthy people who may be depressed should be able to get euthanized is anathema.
In any case, eating a gun is a painless way to go, but most life-insurance policies deny payouts for suicide.
Erronius
Rufus T. Firefly:
Thanks for the link to the interview with Aella. I haven’t seen that one and will try to look at it later today. Aella is a fascinating personality, who’s become internet-famous and very rich. Her wealth is derived from lucrative forms of sex work, as well as some early investments in bitcoin. You’re not the first to wonder whether she might be a bit autistic. In her case, I think that the diagnosis might hide more than it would reveal.
I try to keep up with Steve Hsu’s blog entitled “Information Processing” (https://infoproc.blogspot.com/). Among other things, Hsu is a brilliant physicist currently working on artificial intelligence applications. A couple of months ago, I was surprised to find Hsu interviewing Aella (https://youtu.be/9NRI1c4t_64), and I can recommend the interview to fans of odd couples — whether they’re personalities, opinions, thoughts, images, sounds, etc.
I saved this article on euthanasia in the Netherlands which presents the subject in both its “positive and negative” light depending on your point of view. It seems that our human quest to avoid suffering has opened up the proverbial Pandora’s box.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/jan/18/death-on-demand-has-euthanasia-gone-too-far-netherlands-assisted-dying
Just another instance of the Left believing that they have the RIGHT (and the chops) to play God.
(When will they ever learn…?)
Barry Meislin – “When will they ever learn . . . ?” Never. They don’t acknowledge God. And since he’s not around, someone has to bring about paradise on earth. And they are the ones they have been waiting for. . .
@ Rufus T. Firefly
A) ” …I was surprised to learn Germany’s system has more of a private insurance component than I had thought.”
• Strikes me that many USA citizens do not know what you know; private insurance is also used in countries that have socialized medicine/ universal health care (UHC).
B) “Is there a fairly robust, private system of insurance, physicians and care, or is it akin to England’s NHS?”
• My understanding is it is the former – physicians and care – and not like England’ NHS.
• To be fair, England’ NHS is unique – in part because it is truly, textbook socialized medicine.
• And I use the description “socialized medicine” very liberally. I do so for several reasons, including the fact that I do not want the aspect of government administration/ control to be lost during the inevitable ‘three-card-monte’ that occurs when discussing health care. (see AMA & Socialism)
C) “One of my wife’s cousins married a lawyer who specializes in German health insurance and I’ve had some conversations with her on the topic. ”
• Very interesting.
• What are their thoughts?
1) Why do Germans purchase private health care insurance?
2) pros/ cons German and USA health care systems?
3) What health care system problem(s) is the USA trying to solve?
4) How could the USA heath care system be improved?
5) How could the USA heath care system be improved – within the existing framework/ keeping the best aspects?
Thank you for sharing.
that guy,
3 – 5 would require a booklength reply, but I’ll share what I heard from my wife’s family regarding 1 and 2.
1) Their attitude seemed to be that they believed the government (funded by tax payers) should provide health care for people without the means to purchase insurance. They also seemed to believe it would be wrong to use the government service if one had the means to pay for private insurance.
2) Another, huge topic, but I’ll comment on one thing; Germans are very debt and inflation averse. A big advantage of the German system is German voters put a lot of emphasis on fiscal responsibility, as do German politicians. So, whatever the pros and cons of any, German government system; personal debt and government debt are at low levels compared with the U.S.
@ Rufus T. Firefly
“1) Their attitude seemed to be that they believed the government (funded by tax payers) should provide health care for people without the means to purchase insurance. They also seemed to believe it would be wrong to use the government service if one had the means to pay for private insurance.”
• Very interesting.
• Was aware of the income threshold – that permitted the purchase of private insurance – but was not sure of motivation to do so.
• Strikes me that the German motivation is more “shared responsibility” than “individual benefit” (i.e., for some countries private offers better service, etc.).
• Admirable.
• Always appreciate hearing the perspective of those who have the experience – country, occupation, etc.
• Also, a big believer in “cross-pollination”, or that a good idea can come from anywhere/ anyone.
Thank you for sharing.