Surge in assisted suicide a sign of things to come: euthanasia expert

OTTAWA – An increase in the number of Canadians being put to death by doctors is inevitable as assisted suicide becomes a standard and more accessible medical procedure, says a leading euthanasia opponent.

“The more you make it easier and the more it becomes part of the medical system, the more people who are going to be put to death,” said Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

“We can only imagine what is going to happen after they have their review,” Schadenberg said of the ongoing review of Canada’s 2016 medical assistance in dying legislation and a proposed expansion to include people who suffer from mental illness.

In a statement on the EPC website, Schadenberg said he is “concerned by the expert panel on MAiD and mental illness that the Canadian government established before the election.”

“The ‘expert’ panel is tasked with establishing guidelines to implement euthanasia for mental illness. Most of the panel members are known to have a pro-euthanasia position, which suggests that the government intends to implement permissive protocols for euthanasia for mental illness,” Schadenberg said.

According to media reports in Nova Scotia, that province has seen a surge in euthanasia MAiD requests since the federal government dropped the requirement in March that a person’s natural death be reasonably foreseeable in order to be eligible for assisted suicide. The decision was made in response to a 2019 Quebec Superior Court ruling that said the requirement was unconstitutional.

Nova Scotia news reports said euthanasia referrals have been put on hold in the province until a backlog of cases can be addressed.

In a statement sent to the CBC, Dr. Gord Gubitz of Nova Scotia Health said there have been more referrals so far in 2021 than in all of 2020.

“We are receiving an unprecedented demand for this service,” the CBC quoted Dr. Gubitz.

The Ontario government’s coroner service says there has also been an increase in euthanasia cases in Canada’s largest province, although statistics suggest expanded access may not be a large factor.

Provincial statistics show there were 1,875 euthanasia deaths in the first eight months of 2021, a 24 per cent increase from the same period last year. However, the Ontario statistics also indicate the overwhelming number of assisted deaths in Ontario fall under the reasonably foreseeable natural death category.

According to the Office of the Chief Coroner in Ontario, there were 1,359 cases of assisted suicide in the “reasonably foreseeable” natural death category from March to August this year and 14 cases where natural death was not reasonably foreseeable.