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| Wesley Smith |
Good grief. We are told that euthanasia is “compassion.” But how compassionate is it when last year in Canada, hundreds of sick people were euthanized because of loneliness?
Article: Canada MAiD report: 26% increase in 2019 euthanasia deaths. The hidden story of abuse (Link).
The country’s 2019 MAID [medical assistance in dying] Annual Report found that 13.7 percent of the 5,631 Canadians killed by doctors asked to be lethally injected because of “isolation or loneliness.” If my math is right, that’s about 771 people, or 64 a month, or two per day. Good grief!
- Loss of ability to engage in enjoyable activities, 82.1 percent. That’s a serious concern, but with proper interventions, it can be overcome.
- Loss of ability to perform activities of daily living, 78.1 percent. Ditto.
- “Inadequate control of pain (or concern about it),” 53.9 percent. That’s a scandalously high percentage. Palliative and hospice pain-control experts will tell you that most serious pain in terminal illnesses can be successfully alleviated.
- Loss of dignity, 53.3 percent. Again, this is a serious concern but can be overcome with appropriate care.
- Perceived burden on family, friends, and caregivers, 34 percent. In other words, people put themselves out of their loved one’s misery.
- Emotional distress/anxiety/fear/existential suffering, 4.7 percent.
Alas, most Canadians are proud that their doctors can legally kill sick people whose deaths are “reasonably foreseeable.” Not only that, but the country is now engaged in the process that will expand the conditions qualifying for lethal injection, including incompetent people with dementia if they asked to be put down in an advance directive.
It’s so bad, that in Ontario, if a doctor refuses to euthanize a legally qualified patient or find another doctor he or she knows will kill, they risk professional discipline.
This isn’t just about Canada. The country is our closest cultural cousin. If we swallow the hemlock as our northern cousins have, the same lethal pattern could unfold here.
How bad would it be? Canada has about one-ninth the population of the United States. If the same percentage of people euthanized in Canada were killed by doctors in the U.S.A., it would add up to more than 50,0oo medical homicides per year. Do we really want that?
15 comments:
Sadly it seems killing people, babies,anyone who wants to die has become normalized. When did life become so unvaluable? Babies have no choice, they get murdered. Killing is not the answer. Love, kindness, compassion, try that. I'm pretty sure of someone who asked to be put to sleep was told they are worthy of life and love they would think twice about it. Maybe all they want to hear is that someone Cares. When did the world grow so cold and indifferent to their fellow man in his time of need?
This is Eugenics in action, like Nazi Germany, but just one sector of a global onslaught. If you in your digitally tracked life have ever even implied agreement with this horrible procedure, it is conceivable that if you should perhaps become "under-qualified" for life, in someone else's eyes, a court could argue that you have implied consent and you could be held down by medical orderlies and killed by the doc, without ever signing a thing. We in our place in which we live, in our generation and in our lifetime, have no obligation whatsoever to allow this Global Dictator Cabal minority to overthrow sane, moral and safe Society. Let us leave a legacy by preserving good society for our children. In the name of Jesus, says the Scripture, we have authority over all the power of the enemy. Let us use it, and preserve the generation we are responsible for with all believing prayer and action on every front that we encounter their activity or presence. Defeat is not an option.
If hundreds of elderly people are wanting euthanasia because of isolation and loneliness this points to selfishness on the part of families who do not visit or call on them. As an older person during my life I have made younger friends as well as friends my age and older. Last year I made a new younger friend overseas and she came to visit and she emails me frequently. I think wen elderly people need to make younger friends. That being said, I find that families are so busy working that they do not have time to visit their elderly relatives. It takes effort.
This is a sad situation when people want to die because of loneliness. It is an indictment of society.
Why has not conscience rights for medical professionals been put into law in Ontario ? I would have thought the Ford government would have done that as soon as he was made Premier. We as taxpayers need to pressure him to do that immediately.
Just like the old days with abortion law; agree to forgo your conscience or your license...
So, if people can be euthanized because of loneliness or isolation, then the Slippery Slope is that doctors, nurses, etc., could decide that 'well, her husband has died, she doesn't need to live, let's terminate'. Or, 'He lives in the mountains and never sees anybody and doesn't wash or eat decent food, let's terminate'. Haven't we seen enough arbitrary decisions made about people with Covid-19? Preconceived notions that people will or will not survive, or do or do not have an inherent right to be treated? I am absolutely horrified by all of this!
The difficulty I struggle with is not this active end of life movement but when to stop extraordinary measures. As a diabetic with an exponential risk of stroke, I am a Jesus follower who feels it's my responsibility to lay down some parameters around what I don't want!!
This tells a lot about our society. There are solutions, but “it is easier to kill”...
First, let me say in answer to Village Girl's comment, that with all the restrictions put in place since the outbreak of COVID 19, families are not allowed to visit their loved ones. My mom is 97 and in a Lodge. My sisters and I (6 of us) would go and visit Mom regularly and brought her flowers or ice cream, did her hair and her nails, and visited with her and some of the other old people in there who seldom have visitors. Since COVID no one is allowed in so we have ZOOM calls with her. Now one of my sisters has been allowed to go visit her through a chain link fence and about 10 feet away which makes it very hard. We can visit through a glassed partition but it's not good. The old people have been shut in their rooms, eating alone, no company for hours and hours. This by itself is enough to cause them to die from loneliness! It's tragic and very unfair. I have sent letters to the MP's and MLA's and even the Justice Institute to see if we can't get these restrictions lifted. We would be devastated if Mom were to pass away in this state without her family and loved ones around her. I pray everyone would speak up and write letters and lobby the gov't to lighten up the restrictions. I understand their concern that old people are the most likely to die from COVID but they're also the most vulnerable to die from loneliness and isolation and I'm sure they would rather have their families around them.
You're making it sound like Dr's, Nurses, etc. are crazed vigilantes looking for people to kill. LOL
OP has grossly over simplified the intense laws and steps it takes for an individual to end their life.
Do some research of your own before becoming outraged by a blogger's opinion piece.
As I appreciate the emotion and reaction that I read here, the article itself is actually very inaccurate in the actual intention and category of those who qualify for MAiD.
I myself do not condone nor will I ever participate in this procedure. As a healthcare professional, my training revolves around saving lives and promoting health & not to assist in elective death, doesn’t matter if the person him/herself chose to endeavour this (yes, no one can decide for them but themselves only... and only qualified if they have a terminal illness and can decide intelligently). My faith in God also will never allow me to participate in “calling the shots” as He decides for me as when I’m called back home.
I just wish the article was written teuthfully and accurately so that people can react accordingly and accurately as well.
Nonetheless, I still thank you for exposing the sad truth about my country in how lenient this administration is to giving in to only one side and small group of people and not hearing us on the other side of the fence. Perhaps the problem lies with us pro-life as we are too quiet, unaggressive and to the point of almost passive?
Prove that hundreds of Canadians died from loneliness in Covid times. Posting lies is certainly a show of how ill informed you are.
Give us a list of names for these hindreds of victims
I normally don't publish Anonymous comments but you are so ill informed that I had to publish your comment and respond.
The federal data on MAiD stated that in 2019, 13.7% of the MAiD deaths were attributed to "isolation or loneliness." As Wesley Smith states in the article, do the math, that means about 771 deaths based on isolation or loneliness.
Further to that, the article does not refer to COVID-19 it refers to the 2019 MAiD stats that were published by the government. Last I noticed COVID is a 2020 problem.
With these stats referring to 2019, I shudder to think of what 2020's numbers will prove. As I write, my hands shake. My mother is locked up in one of the "prisons" and more recently, "essential" visitation, which is very limited, requires signing a waiver which infringes upon both her and our rights as outlined in the Canadian Constitution. We're told that not all "homes" require these signatures. How would anyone need to sign a waiver in order to visit their loved one, I ask? Waivers are for optional endeavors - not for duties; not for expressing love and caring. Furthermore, our generation should be deeply ashamed. We are incredibly selfish. That is why we've allowed this "MAID" and all of its supporting actions, such as the "counselling" to take place. Not all Canadians support this new belief system. Please don't forget us America. We wish we had all of the freedoms that you have! Ours have been diminished.
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