An annual report by Canadian health authorities paints a grim picture of just how disposable life can be in the Great White North.
The Second Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) indicates that physicians aided in the deaths of 7,595 Canadian citizens in 2020.
These include, according to the Australian Care Alliance:
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4,120 Canadians euthanased because they had cancer but with no discussion with an oncologist about this course of action;
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2,650 people who perceived they were a burden on their family, friends or caregivers;
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1,412 people who requested that their lives be ended because they felt isolated and lonely;
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1,253 with non-terminal conditions;
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227 people who were put to death because they were frail;
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322 people who needed disability support services but did not receive them;
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126 people who needed, but could not access, palliative care were given access to the lethal jab;
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59 people who the practitioner assessed as requesting a lethal injection “voluntarily” determined the alleged voluntariness without directly consulting with the person.
The report was prefaced by a letter from Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister for Health, who casually mentioned the “varied opinions” of MAID among Canadians and the continual “evolving” of medically-assisted suicide policy in the nation.
Canada first gave its citizens the “right” to end their own lives in 2015 resulting from a Supreme Court decision.
Alarmingly, the report indicates that many Canadians were given lethal injections less than ten days after requesting the procedure due to having the mandatory 10-day “reflection period” waived. 905 of these people were reportedly in grave health and stood to risk their decision-making capacity before the end of the 10-day wait.
As of March 2021, however, the 10-day reflection period is no longer mandatory for anyone whose “death is reasonably foreseeable.”
There is a 90-day waiting period for people suffering from non-terminal chronic conditions and disabilities, but this can also be waived entirely if two physicians claim that the patient’s decision-making ability could diminish within that period.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, wrote in a blog post on the report that he was “particularly concerned that 18.6% or more than 1412 people listed loneliness and isolation as a reason to die by MAiD.”
“If Canadians had access to excellent end-of-life care then 57% would not state that inadequate control of pain or concern about it and 50% would not state that inadequate control of symptoms, other than pain, or concern about it are reasons to be killed,” Schadenberg argued, lamenting that “The current Canadian government is committed to more death by euthanasia.”
HD Editors Note: Why Is This News Biblically Relevant?
In 2 Timothy Chapter 3, the apostle Paul describes what the character of mankind would be like in the last days. These characteristics would serve as a sign that Jesus’ return is fast approaching. Among this list is a “Loss of Natural Affection” (2 Timothy 3:3). This prophetically predicted characteristic is on full display as the murder of the weakest among us (through abortion, euthanasia, etc.) is celebrated and fought for by our godless society.
Answers in Genesis in their Article “Is Euthanasia a Biblical Solution to Terminal Illness or Suffering?” wrote:
As people around the world grapple with the issue of whether euthanasia (“mercy killing”) and physician-assisted suicide should be legal, it is the desire to retain control over our lives until the end that motivates many to push for a legal “right to die” on their own terms. When we realize that this is tantamount to asking for murder-on-demand, the sanitized sounding word euthanasia takes on its true colors.
How should we as Christians view this issue? Whatever direction the legal systems of this and other nations take—and whatever unhappy surprises our own lives may hold for us as individuals and for those we love—how can we be certain that our thinking on this issue is correct? It is quite easy to be caught up in the emotional rhetoric surrounding this subject and to be overwhelmed by emotional distress when we hear bad news from our doctors. Without a firm foundation in the Word of God, the decisions we make and the beliefs we hold about these complex issues may be swayed by emotions and governed by the fallible pronouncements of secular ethics committees or even resource utilization guidelines. Therefore, to prepare ourselves for the unexpected, it is important to base our thinking on the Word of God from the very beginning. Let’s get this straight in our minds now.
From the beginning—back in the Garden of Eden—human beings have wanted to take control of their lives. We see this in the historical account of Eve’s yielding to the serpent’s temptation to “be like God” (Genesis 3:5) and in Adam’s decision to follow her in rebellion to God.
The Bible does not condone the taking of one’s own life or euthanasia. It simply does not. God exhorts us to defend the “speechless … who are appointed to die” (Proverbs 31:8–9), not to kill them. God forbids murder (Exodus 20:13). Euthanasia—the destruction of another person’s life even to end their suffering—is a form of murder. It is wrong to do it and wrong to ask someone to do it for you. Having the choice to “shuffle off this mortal coil” through our own hand or the hand of another is not God’s plan for us. We human beings do not have the authority to make that decision for ourselves or our loved ones.
Yet despite all the appealing talk of “dying with dignity”—and who in their right mind would desire to die without dignity—suicide, even when assisted by a physician’s lethal prescription, and euthanasia—which is just a nice word for murder with a presumably merciful motive—are not acceptable options unless we are nothing more than animals.
But we are not just animals! We—every one of us—are all made in his image and therefore all human beings have lives of special value to God, so much so that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, gave his own life for us (John 3:16;1 Corinthians 15:22; Hebrews 2:9–10). God’s account of creation recorded in the Bible is consistent with what wesee in the physical world and validates his ownership of humanity and his right to set our standards. And apart from a source of truth from someone greater than man, no person’s moral judgments are more valid than another’s. Human beings have many ideas about right and wrong, but as described in the biblical book of Judges, when God’s Word is ignored, everyone does what is right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25), and that is a recipe for disaster as much now as it was during the days described in the book of Judges. Only God who created mankind is justly in a position of moral authority over all mankind.
We must not, therefore, yield the ground to those exhorting us to embrace death prematurely—much less to put subtle pressure on others to do so—but rather focus on how we live in the light of God’s truth until life’s end.
This is a complex issue, and this article is not intended to address every aspect, much less to review the legal ramifications of laws and court decisions that can change in a day. This is, instead, a reminder that we need to base our thinking on the Word of God, which never changes and can be trusted to guide us through life and death.
