As I read this article on LifeSite News, I was greatly saddened to see the lack of compassion and the callous regard for human life in the Canadian health system. On March 29, Normand Meunier, a 66-year-old quadriplegic man, was euthanized at home after developing bed sores and a major pressure ulcer on his backside. The ulcer and bed sores, resulting from a lack of specialized care (and a lack of common decency) at the hospital in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, were so severe that muscle and bone were exposed and visible.
First off, he was placed on a hospital stretcher for 95 hours (almost 4 days). Now, anyone who has been on such a stretcher knows that they are not comfortable for long periods of time. They are only meant to be used for transporting patients to diagnostic procedures, to their beds, or to surgery.
Sylvie Brosseau (Meunier’s partner) revealed that she had asked medical staff to provide a specialized bed for him but was told that one would have to be ordered. According to the hospital, they do have beds available, but for some reason never assigned one to Meunier. The end result was exactly what the Canadian healthcare system wanted—Meunier was in so much pain that he asked for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), stating, “I don’t want to be a burden.”
While we certainly don’t condone suicide, it is easy to see that the almost deliberate sadistic attitudes and actions of the hospital pushed Munier to that decision. But this is just a lone case of negligence, right? No! This is a systemic determination to kill off elderly and terminally ill people by deliberately delaying healthcare to patients (even recognizing that there is a healthcare worker shortage).
Wait times to receive care in Canada are now averaging 27.7 weeks, leading some Canadians to despair of ever receiving medical treatment and to opt for euthanasia instead of waiting for help. And in the case of Munier, this deliberate and callous lack of proper care made his life so miserable that he saw no other alternative but suicide.
According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injection. This accounts for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year and is a 31.2 percent increase from 2021. And the total number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 now stands at 44,958. As of the end of 2022, the total population of Canada was 38.93 million.
That means 1.1% of the population of Canada over the six years of 2016–2022 were euthanized, and the numbers are growing rapidly each year. The agency’s recent report showed a decrease in life expectancy for the third consecutive year, whereas most countries are showing people living longer. The number of Canadians ending their lives through MAiD has grown at a speed that outpaces every other nation in the world.
Of course, the more people believe they are just animals and not special beings made in the image of God, the more they will be treated as animals. Get rid of spare cats? Well, get rid of “spare” people if people are just animals. Such is really the consistent outcome of generations being taught naturalistic evolution.
A 2023 report by The Hub exposed these shocking statistics:
Ultimately, the Annual Reports provide very little reassurance that Canadians aren’t resorting to MAiD due to lack of adequate care. In fact, they seem to suggest the opposite. With respect to the nature of suffering that led patients to MAiD, almost six in 10 deaths (approximately 7,756 people) involved “inadequate pain control (or concern)”, and almost half (approximately 6,210 people) involved “inadequate control of symptoms other than pain (or concern).”
This raises a number of red flags. The first is that concerns about potential pain or symptoms appear to be driving a large number of MAiD requests. How many Canadians who died were fully aware of palliative care’s effectiveness in potentially managing their concerns? How many had meaningful access to the supports they needed, which could have potentially alleviated their suffering? There are limits to what medicine can do, of course, but the notion that Canada systemically failed almost 8,000 people in helping them manage their pain—in a single year—is both heartbreaking and eye-opening.
What a sad and shocking commentary on the healthcare system of Canada, where human decency is being minimized and has given way to “expediency” (literally pushing suicide as the “best” alternative) at the cost of people’s lives. The prophet Ezekiel spoke against such people and practices in his lifetime, and these words are just as relevant today as they were then.
Ezekiel 34:4 KJV – “The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”
