Monday, October 15, 2018

Canadian woman abandoned to death. Has euthanasia become the only option for some?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I spoke to a woman, today, about the sad story of the death of her only daughter. Her daughter was dying with cancer and her care was so substandard that she decided that euthanasia was her only option.
Shortage of palliative care is pushing people to euthanasia.
She said, my daughter wanted to be cared for at home, but the home care was minimal and not good. Her daughter was dying from cancer but she was living with neglect.

Her daughter decided the euthanasia was her only option. She signed the forms for euthanasia and waited to be killed.

Her mother, who had cared for her parents when they died, was trying to care for her daughter, but she lived one hour away. She tried but failed to find good home care in the community.

In the end, her daughter died before the lethal injection was done. 

Her mother repeated that she only wanted to be cared for at home, she only wanted her pain controlled, instead she died a horrible death.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition supports excellent care. A recent news article indicates that Canada is not providing good end-of-life care, but euthanasia is available. 

No one should be abandoned to death by euthanasia or to dying a bad death.

Caring not Killing is the answer.

If you need to speak to someone about your experience with euthanasia or assisted suicide please call Compassionate Community Care at: 1-855-675-8749.

1 comment:

gadfly said...

First, is there a correlation between 'offering' euthanasia and the substandard in care? We do not know, but this data could be followed. Second, who failed this woman? The medical staff, obviously.
Third, it's interesting that the effort needed to care for someone has fallen off in this case - to the point the woman demands death. In one of my writings, I pointed out that this could be a possibility - in 2013.
Remember, one implies more. Ideology can be hidden behind neglect...