People who are living with mental illness need care.
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On August 19, 2024, a euthanasia lobby group launched a court case to force Canada to extend euthanasia to mental illness alone.
Stephanie Taylor reported the following for The Canadian Press:
An application filed by Dying with Dignity in Ontario Superior Court on Monday argues that it is discriminatory to bar people with mental disorders from being eligible for an assisted death when it is available to people who suffer physically.(1)
Considering how Canada’s euthanasia law has been implemented and the stories of people who have died or were urged to die by euthanasia, this court challenge shows how extreme Canada’s euthanasia lobby is.
Consider some of the stories.
In August 2022, Global News reported that a Veterans Affairs employee had advocated euthanasia for a veteran living with PTSD:
A Canadian Forces veteran seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee, sources tell Global News.(3)Canadians were shocked that a veteran who served our country and was seeking help for PTSD was offered euthanasia (“MAiD”). With time, we learned that several other veterans were also offered euthanasia as a “treatment” option for PTSD and other mental health issues.
Christine Gauthier, a retired corporal and former Paralympian, revealed to lawmakers that she was offered medically assisted death by a VAC employee. Sean Boynton reported the following for Global News on December 2, 2022:
[R]etired corporal Christine Gauthier, who is paraplegic, told the House of Commons standing committee on veterans affairs that the topic of assisted dying was raised during a years-long fight for a home wheelchair lift.
“On the comment of medical assistance in dying…I was approached with that as well,” Gauthier testified. She described the comments of the VAC agent she spoke with as saying, “‘Madam, if you are really so desperate, we can give you medical assistance in dying now.’”(4)
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On August 20, 2024, Sheila Gunn Reid reported for Rebel News that she had obtained, through access to information, 2200 pages of documents recording the paper trail of an attempted cover-up of Veterans Affairs’ involvement in recommending euthanasia for veterans with disabilities and/or mental health concerns.
Nearly a dozen veterans experiencing acute post-traumatic stress disorder or asking for access to daily living to deal with service-related injuries came forward over recent years to say that their [VAC] case workers suggested a medically assisted death to them.(5)More concerns with euthanasia for mental illness.
In June 2023, Kathrin Mentler, a woman who has lived with chronic suicidal ideation, went to Vancouver General Hospital during a mental health crisis to seek help, but instead was offered euthanasia. On August 9, 2023, Michelle Gamage for The Tyee reported the following:
“It was pretty disheartening and made me feel helpless,” Mentler says. “I’m coming here because I’m looking for help and you’re telling me there is no help.”What would happen to so many others, like Mentler, if euthanasia for mental illness alone became a legal and “medical” option?
That’s when the counsellor asked Mentler if she’d ever considered medically assisted suicide.
Mentler says she was “shocked” and “sickened” because she came to the Access and Assessment Centre for help, “not for recommendations on how to kill myself.”(6)
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I am haunted by a particularly difficult memory of my mother during a severe episode of her illness.During our press conference on February 27, 2024, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) urged Canada’s parliament to completely scrap euthanasia for mental illness, not simply delay it. EPC was working with several young women who had lived with suicidal ideation and, if it was available, may have chosen death over living at a low point in their lives.
She once looked at me with desperation, expressing a wish for an end to her suffering in a way that was both shocking and heart-wrenching. This moment reminds me of the profound complexities surrounding mental illness. Her illness fluctuated; we later experienced many positive moments and memories.
Sharing this is not easy, but I feel it’s necessary to illustrate the stakes involved in the discussion on assisted suicide for mental illnesses.(7)
The euthanasia lobby argues that it is discrimination to deny people living with mental illness be denied euthanasia when people with physical illness have access to die by euthanasia.(8) The issue of euthanasia for mental illness alone is falsely connected to the concept of equality. The opposite is true—euthanasia is inherently discriminatory because it enables a doctor or nurse practitioner to decide if certain groups of people are worthy of living.
Canada’s euthanasia lobby promotes euthanasia for people with mental illness; they also want to force every medical institution in Canada to kill their patients. On June 17, 2024, Canada’s euthanasia lobby and the family of Samantha O’Neill launched a court case to this end. O’Neill is a woman who requested death by euthanasia in April 2023 at St Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. St Paul’s refused; they transferred her to another facility where she died by euthanasia. The court case is designed to go to the Supreme Court of Canada. It is based on the concept that O’Neill’s rights were denied when she was “forced” to be transferred to another healthcare facility.(9)
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and our supporters will continue to resist the normalization of euthanasia in Canada.
Endnotes:
(1) Taylor, S. (2024, Aug 19). Canada’s assisted-dying law faces constitutional fight for excluding mental disorder. The Canadian Press. https://www.cp24.com/news/canada-s-assisted-dying-law-faces-constitutional-fight-for-excluding-mental-disorder-1.7006733
(2) Galko, M. (2024, Feb 27). Expansion of medical assistance in dying should be scrapped entirely, advocacy group says. National Post. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/stop-medical-assistance-in-dying-expansion-group-says
(3) Stephenson, M. & Boynton, S. (2022, Aug 16). Veterans Affairs says worker ‘inappropriately’ discussed medically assisted death with veteran. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/9061709/veteran-medical-assisted-death-canada/
(4) Boynton, S. (2022, Dec 2). Trudeau says assisted dying offers to veterans ‘unacceptable’ as cases mount. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/9321582/veterans-affairs-maid-cases-trudeau/
(5) Gunn Reid, S. (2024, Aug 20). Veterans Affairs Canada tried to hide euthanasia scandal paper trail. Rebel News. https://www.rebelnews.com/exclusive_veterans_affairs_canada_tried_to_hide_euthanasia_scandal_paper_trail
(6) Gamage, M. (2023, Aug 9). She Sought Help in Crisis and Was Suggested MAID Instead. The Tyee. https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/08/09/Medical-Assistance-Dying-Slippery-Slope-Mental-Illness-Disabled/
(7) Goddard, K. (2024, Jan 29). MAiD for mental illness should never come to pass. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/opinion/kurt-goddard-we-must-reject-assisted-suicide-as-a-solution-for-mental-health-challenges
(8) Dying with Dignity Canada. (2024, Aug 19). Discriminatory exclusion of those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from medical assistance in dying (MAID) faces Charter challenge [Press release]. https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/MDSUMC_Lawsuit_PressRelease_EN_FINAL.pdf
(9) DeRosa, K. (2023, Jun 23). Woman with terminal cancer forced to transfer from St. Paul’s Hospital for assisted dying. Vancouver Sun. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/woman-with-terminal-cancer-forced-to-family-upset-by-st-pauls-hospital-maid-policy
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