Canada's euthanasia lobby appears to be circumventing the law?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition 

Last August, we were contacted by a woman who wanted to know how her nephew was approved for, and died by euthanasia (MAiD).

She explained that her nephew, who had a brain injury, made a request for death by MAiD in his local community. Since he did not have a grievous medical condition and since his "natural death was not reasonably foreseeable" he was told that he did not qualify for death by euthanasia.

She said that her nephew, then, contacted Dying With Dignity (DWD), a leading euthanasia lobby group in Canada, and soon after, he died by MAiD.

The questions are concerning: Did her nephew qualify for death by MAiD and if he didn't why did a physician who works with Dying With Dignity (DWD) cause his death?

Yesterday, I received a fund-raising email from the DWD National Care and Support Navigator, who states:

I have supported, directly or indirectly, more than 1,000 people who needed our help navigating a request for medical assistance in dying (MAID).

Whether it’s by coordinating independent witnesses who can sign a person’s request for MAID — and in turn helping them meet a requirement in the law — or by putting a person in touch with a clinician willing to answer their questions, helping and empowering people is the best part of my job.

The fund-raising email continues by promoting the expansion of Canada's euthanasia law to include incompetent people, who made a prior request for euthanasia.

The euthanasia lobby ignores the fact that incompetent people cannot confirm their request for lethal injection and they cannot change their mind.

Similar to the assisted suicide lobby in America, where Compassion and Choices facilitates most of the assisted suicide deaths in Oregon, the euthanasia lobby in Canada is facilitating euthanasia, while lobbying to expand the law.

The DWD fundraising email answered the questions I posed last August when the woman asked me how her nephew could have qualified for euthanasia.

Yes, DWD appears to be circumventing Canada's euthanasia law.