People in Canada are having their lives ended by assisted dying on the same day that requests are made.
An official report by the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s Medical Assistance in Dying Death Review Committee (MDRC) highlighted that, in 2023, 65 people in Ontario had their lives ended by Canada’s assisted suicide and euthanasia programme on the same day that they made their requests to do so. A further 154 people had their lives ended the day after their request was made.
These same-day suicides, which comprise both assisted suicide and euthanasia, include the case of Mrs B, a woman in her 80s who suffered from complications following coronary artery bypass graft surgery and who chose to receive palliative care support at home.
After sharing her desire with her family to end her life through Canada’s euthanasia and assisted suicide programme, her spouse requested an assessment. However, Mrs B informed the euthanasia and assisted suicide assessor that she “wanted to withdraw her request, citing personal and religious values and beliefs”, preferring instead to pursue “in-patient palliative care/hospice care”.
After being denied hospice palliative care, Mrs B’s spouse subsequently requested another euthanasia and assisted suicide assessment, which deemed Mrs B eligible for the euthanasia and assisted suicide programme. This approval was granted despite reservations from the first practitioner, who held “concerns regarding the necessity for ‘urgency’ and… the seemingly drastic change in perspective of end-of-life goals, and the possibility of coercion or undue influence (i.e. due to caregiver burnout)”.
Despite this, Mrs B’s request was approved by two separate assessors and she died the same day.
Canada’s original assisted suicide and euthanasia law, known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), passed in 2016, required a 10-day waiting period between requesting assisted dying and being given assistance to end one’s life.
The Canadian Parliament removed this requirement for individuals whose deaths were “reasonably foreseeable” in 2021. There are no specific criteria used to determine whether a same-day suicide should apply.
Members of the MDRC expressed concerns that same-day suicides could be an influencing factor for people choosing to end their lives, as this accessibility is more timely than accessing high-quality end-of-life care.
The report stated: “[M]any members opined that poor quality end-of-life care potentially impacted the request for a brief MAiD provision timeline”.
“Some members expressed their concern that access to MAiD was more easily organised and accessible in this circumstance than the previously requested and preferred option for end-of-life care”, the report added.
Dr Ramona Coelho, a member of the MDRC, criticised the actions of those involved in Mrs B’s death, saying: “The focus should have been on ensuring adequate palliative care and support for Mrs B and her spouse. Hospice and palliative care teams should have been urgently re-engaged, given the severity of the situation”.
As peers continue to scrutinise the England and Wales assisted suicide Bill in the House of Lords, these cases of same-day suicides and an absence of care availability add to the concerns of the Bill’s opponents.
In the assisted suicide Bill, as it stands in England and Wales, individuals could end their lives in as little as nine days following an initial request. As with the law in Canada, nothing prevents this “period for reflection” from being reduced or removed entirely through an amendment to the law.
Critics warn that, if legalised, assisted suicide would become an alternative to high-quality palliative and end-of-life care. Palliative care services in the UK are already in crisis, with Marie Curie reporting that 170,000 people are dying each year in England needing palliative care but not receiving it. The report also estimates that, in the next 25 years, unmet palliative care needs are expected to rise by 23 per cent, meaning an additional 40,000 people are expected to die with unmet palliative care needs in 2050 compared to 2025.
Catherine Robinson, spokeswoman for Right To Life UK, said: “The fact that the assisted suicide and euthanasia regime in Canada can have a turnaround time of only a day from request to death, allowing same-day suicides to happen, while end-of-life care remains incredibly difficult to access, is scandalous and a damning indictment of the Canadian state.
“People with end-of-life care needs should receive that care and support, rather than be given promptly administered assistance in suicide or euthanasia simply because it is easier or more cost-effective.
“These examples should serve as warnings of what may happen in the future in England and Wales if the assisted suicide Bill is made law and starts down the path towards a progressively more expansive assisted suicide regime. It cannot be allowed to happen.”
This article was originally published by Right To Life UK and is republished with permission. Read the original version of this article here.
