Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario released the December 2022 MAiD data which indicated that in 2022 there were 3934 reported euthanasia deaths up by 27% from 3102 in 2021.The Ontario euthanasia data indicates that have been 13,732 (MAiD) deaths since legalization in June 2016. For clarity, there were 13,729 euthanasia deaths and 3 assisted suicide deaths.
According to the data, of the 3934 euthanasia deaths in 2022, 121 were people who were not terminally ill, 20 of the deaths were followed by organ donation and the final consent was waived in 190 deaths. The final consent is waived when a person has become incompetent.
A 27% increase in Ontario euthanasia deaths is significant but less than the 51% increase reported in Québec. (Link to article).
The seventh annual report from Québec’s Commission on end of life care was filed in Québec’s National Assembly on December 9, 2022 covering the (April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022) period. The report declared that there were 3663 reported euthanasia deaths representing 5.1% of all deaths.
Unlike Ontario, Québec has a multiple reporting system. The Québec report indicated that a discrepancy of 289 euthanasia deaths were reported when comparing the practitioner reports to the Collège des Médecins du Québec reports.
The Ontario data may not be accurate because it only relies on the voluntary reports submitted by the practitioners who cause the death.
I was very pleased by the recent news that Portugal's Constitutional Court rejected a euthanasia bill for the second time based on the imprecise language of the bill.
Canada's euthanasia law employs imprecise language that has been loosely interpreted. Sadly the deaths by euthanasia continue to increase exponentialy in Canada.
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