Canadian woman does not qualify for care but qualifies for euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Marcia Doherty

Marcia Doherty is a Canadian woman who has been approved for euthanasia, but wants to live.

Hannah Sharland reported for the Canary on December 20, 2024 that:

After decades battling severe ME/CFS and systemic lack of support, Marcia Doherty – known online as “Madeline” – is going fully public in a desperate bid to secure her survival and fight for change. It comes amid her being approved for assisted suicide in Canada – something she doesn’t actually want at all.

Sharland explains:

Marcia lives with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), a debilitating condition often triggered by viruses, which can rival cancer and late-stage AIDS in severity.

It’s a chronic systemic neuroimmune disease which affects nearly every system in the body. As a result, it causes a range of symptoms that hugely impact patients’ daily lives. These typically include influenza-like symptoms, cognitive impairment, multiple forms of pain, and heart, lung, blood pressure, and digestive dysfunctions, among other significantly debilitating symptoms.

In particular, post-exertional-malaise (PEM) is the hallmark feature of ME. This involves a disproportionate worsening of other symptoms after even minimal physical, social, mental, or emotional exertion.

At least 25% of people with ME live with severe ME. In these cases, people living with severe ME are mostly, if not entirely permanently bed-bound or hospitalised. On top of this, they are often unable to digest food, communicate, or process information and are fully dependent on others for their care.

Sharland explains that the British Columbia Ministry of Health does not fully recognize ME and therefore leaves people with ME, such as Marcia, without the care and treatment that they need.

Sharland explains that since Canada's euthanasia law was expanded in 2021 to include non-terminal conditions that:

It has led to harrowing stories of chronically ill and disabled people turning to MAiD due to poverty, homelessness, and a lack of quality available healthcare. So naturally, it’s extremely concerning Marcia has been approved for this, while the Canadian healthcare system continues to utterly fail her.

Marcia doesn't qualify for care that she needs but she qualifies to be killed. Marcia has tried to change British Columbia Ministry of Health policies. Sharland reports:

For years, I’ve fought to stay alive and advocate for my community.

Yet over and over I’ve been told there’s no route to adequately help people like me – no human rights recourse, no legal pathway to address the systemic neglect of my illness.

I’ve worked with the medical community, government ministries and legal experts, and been told that coverage for ME is a political decision. Well, political change only happens when there’s public awareness – which is why I’m sharing my story.

The problem with ME not qualifying for care is not limited to British Columbia. Sharland states:

In the past year alone, the Canary has covered the stories of multiple ME patients. In the UK, the NHS has abused, neglected, and sectioned patients like 18-year-old Millie McAinsh and 24-year-old Carla Naoum. From Australia, we spoke to severe ME patient Anna. She is still without support or care to leave an abusive household.

There’s 29-year-old Nevra in Pakistan too. Like Marcia, she has had to fundraise for care – and is currently doing so for urgent endometriosis surgery. Meanwhile, a hospital in New Zealand forced 34-year-old severe ME patient Rhiannon into an ‘aged care facility’ as the government has no provision in place to support her elsewhere.

It’s a disgraceful state of affairs that governments globally are denying ME patients like Marcia the support they need. Moreover, the British Columbian state’s authorisation of an assisted death for Marcia, before funding adequate care, should send alarm bells ringing.

Marcia has been approved for euthanasia but is not approved for the care that she needs.

Marcia has launched a petition calling for better recognition, care, and support for ME.

People can support Marcia’s petition, both in Canada and internationally, and learn about her fight here.

They can also learn more about her story via her video announcement, podcast and YouTube channel, and support her crowdfunding campaign.

The world wonders why Canada is euthanizing the poor.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alex Lo

Alex Lo who is a columnist with the South China Morning Post wrote an article wondering why Canada is killing poor people by MAiD (euthanasia). 

Lo states that he is not religious and he supports MAiD for terminally ill people, but he finds recent Canadian cases as profoundly disturbing. 

Lo explains that Canada has developed a two tract MAiD system with the first tract for people whose natural death is deemed reasonably forseeable, and tract-two is for those who are living with an “intolerable” and “irreversible” illness, disease or disability, but who are not otherwise dying.

Lo writes:

Consider several tract-two cases this year. In February, the assisted death of a 51-year-old woman under MAiD became a first in the world for someone diagnosed with severe multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) because she could not afford housing that was free of chemicals such as cigarette smoke and air-fresheners.

In April, a 31-year-old Toronto woman was reportedly near final MAiD approval as she likewise suffered from MCS and couldn’t afford proper housing.

Meanwhile, Tracey Thompson, a former Toronto chef in her 50s, is applying for MAiD after contracting Covid-19 and being unable to work. Her most severe complications include reduced lung capacities leading to breathing problems and scars in her heart from swelling caused by myocarditis.

A 54-year-old Vancouver woman, suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome, is also currently applying for MAiD after amassing C$40,000 (HK$241,000) in debt she could not hope to repay.

Lo concludes by writing:

In April, The Spectator asked, “Why is Canada euthanising the poor?”; and The Guardian reported the following month: “Critics argue laws are being misused to punish the poor but experts say cases represent country’s failure to care for its most vulnerable citizens.”

Good question!

More articles on this topic: 

• A message to the world. Don't legalize euthanasia (Link). 
• 20-year-old man with undiagnosed condition is approved for euthanasia (Link).
• Euthanasia by advanced directive is a recipe for abuse (Link).
• BC woman approved for euthanasia but can't access healthcare (Link).
• Why euthanasia for children is wrong (Link).
• Euthanasia is out-of-control in Canada (Link).

MAiD (Euthanasia) for disability and poverty.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Madeleine

When there is one article in the media about a topic, it results in more stories on the same topic. In the past few months there have been several articles about people who are considering, or approved or died by MAiD (euthanasia) based on disability and poverty.

On July 12, Christina Frangou wrote an article that was published by Chatalaine concerning a 54-year-old Vancouver woman who  has amassed $40,000 in debts trying to treat myalgic encephalomyelitis and other ailments. When her money runs out, she says a medically assisted death may be her only option.

Frangou is writing about a woman known as Madeleine, who is living with disability and poverty. A previous article about Madeleine was published in July 2021. Frangou reports:

Today, she is among the more than 1.4 million Canadians with disabilities who live in poverty. Many, like Madeline, receive some government support; despite that, 40 percent of Canadians with disabilities live below the poverty line. And people with disabilities often need more basic goods and services just to survive—things like mobility aids, home care, accessible housing and transportation, prescription drugs and health care services, not all of which are fully covered by Canada’s publicly funded health programs.

There is, however, one government-funded service available to some people living with disabilities: medical assistance in dying (MAID). Last year, the Canadian government voted to expand MAID laws to include people suffering with illness whose death is not imminent, like Madeline. This has put her in a quandary: She has government funding to die in comfort, but not enough to live at the same standard.

The article explains that when Canada's parliament passed Bill C-7, in March 2021, parliament expanded euthanasia to people with disabilities who are not otherwise dying.

Frangou wrote that Madeleine applied for euthanasia in 2020 but she was told that she didn't qualify, but after Bill C-7 passed, she was approved. Frangou continues:

Many in the disability community have expressed frustration about the new criteria for MAID, saying that people may feel coerced into dying when they are suffering from poverty more than illness. Madeline, however, says she welcomed the changes to MAID. At the same time, she says that her decision to apply for an assisted death is largely driven by finances: “I’ve been forced to a measure of deterioration [where] I’ve ended up with MAID,” she says.

She isn’t alone. Hewitt of Disability Without Poverty told Chatelaine that she knows of eight people who are considering MAID because of poverty. This winter, a 51-year-old Ontario woman diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivities chose MAID after she could not find affordable housing free of cigarette smoke and chemical cleaners. And another woman with the same condition told CTV that she will also seek a medically assisted death due to a lack of suitable housing. There are few known details about these cases, although they will be reviewed by the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario, in keeping with the rules for MAID requests in the province.

It was argued that expanding euthanasia to people with disabilities, who are not otherwise dying, provided equality but in fact it undermines the equality of people with disabilities who are often living in poverty.

The article ends by quoting Madeline as saying:

“I’m not [giving up]. That’s not what MAID is. MAID is brutal practicality.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition accurately predicted that once doctors and nurses are given the right in law to kill patients that the rules and reasons for approving medical killing (MAiD) would expand. This is what has happened in Canada.

More articles on these topics:

• A message to the world. Don't legalize euthanasia (Link). 
• 20-year-old man with undiagnosed condition is approved for euthanasia (Link).
• Euthanasia by advanced directive is a recipe for abuse (Link).
• BC woman approved for euthanasia but can't access healthcare (Link).
• Why euthanasia for children is wrong (Link).
• Euthanasia is out-of-control in Canada (Link).

British Columbia woman prepares to die by euthanasia. She can't afford the cost of care.

"I shouldn't have to beg for my life."

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article by Moira Wyton titled: "I Shouldn't Have to Beg for My Life" is the story of a woman known as "Madeline" who is planning to die by (MAiD) euthanasia, not because she wants to die, but because she cannot afford the cost of her treatment and care.

Wyton explains:

Madeline has been preparing for medical assistance in dying, or MAID, for over a year, and says she could choose to die as soon as late July if she does not come up with the money to cover treatments for her complex mitochondrial and post-viral conditions.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a multisystem disease that affects patients in myriad ways, leaving many with profound fatigue, cognitive and mobility challenges, trouble sleeping and in extreme pain. It can impact nearly all systems in the body, including respiratory, muscular, nervous and immune systems.

Madeline tells Wyton that she cannot afford the cost of her treatment and care that she estimates at $100,000 per year, on a disability assistance benefit of $1,358 per month.

Madeline told Wyton:

“They would rather see me die than recognize my illness and pay for the treatments that keep me alive,”

“My death is no more inevitable than a diabetic’s who can’t get insulin.”

Wyton explains that approximately 600,000 Canadians have ME/CFS and yet there are only 6 specialists in Canada. Wyton warns that more of these people may soon die by euthanasia.

"Madeline" which is not her actual name, started a podcast to discuss the health issues and her euthanasia dilemma at I Am Madeline.

Wyton reports that the podcast was created to save Madeline's life. She writes:

The podcast was born not just of Madeline’s desire to save her own life, but also to prevent others from experiencing the same neglect that she says leaves her with no choice but to prepare to die.

Madeline was reluctant but decided to participate after speaking to a close friend and realizing she doesn’t want to die “even more than I don’t want to do the podcast, that I don’t want to do the GoFundMe, that I don’t want to have to bare my soul and beg for my life.”

Madeline said that she wants to live and that she shouldn't have to beg for her life, but Madeline also said:

“MAID isn’t giving up; it’s just being brutally practical about what’s happening and that it’s because the larger system has abdicated on my whole disease.”

Madeline may be right, but she clearly explains how euthanasia is not about freedom, choice or autonomy but rather an abandonment of people at their time of need.