by Jonathon Van Maren, The Bridgehead
A string of recent stories highlights the aggressive expansion of Canada’s culture of death, from a frail woman with dementia being euthanized in Ontario, a “secret euthanasia house” being set up in British Columbia, and Quebec proposing a “law of all laws” that would enshrine the right to both abortion and euthanasia.
The first story was revealed in a recent report from the Office of the Ontario Chief Coroner’s MAID Death Review Committee. The National Post reported that a “frail woman in her late 80s with dementia” was euthanized “after a family member brought forward a request for assisted death.” The elderly woman was given a lethal injection after a euthanasia provider “deemed the woman had given her final expressed consent to proceed, based on her ability to repeat a question and squeeze the provider’s hand.”
The case was one of 103 listed in the death review committee’s report where dementia was cited as the primary source of suffering that made the patient eligible. The committee observed that these cases introduce many new factors that have must be navigated:
MAID requests involving dementia require additional considerations for interpreting eligibility criteria, assessing capacity and ensuring informed consent. The reported suffering of persons with dementia was higher for experiences such as ‘loss of dignity,’ ‘being a perceived burden on family, friends or caregivers,’ ’emotional distress/anxiety/fear/existential suffering’ and ‘loss of independence’ compared to persons with other CODs (causes of death).
It is significant that the elderly woman who was euthanized had a family member request the lethal injection on her behalf; the report noted that she needed assistance for all basic tasks, including eating. “At one point during her admission, Mrs. 6F reportedly expressed a ‘wish to die’ to a family member,” the report stated. “This was communicated to her care team, who initiated a referral for MAID. Mrs. 6F’s expression of a wish to die was interpreted by a family member as a potential request for MAID.”
Despite that initial statement—which was not necessarily a request, but “interpreted as one”—the woman decided not to be euthanized and was moved into long-term care. Four months later, “a family member initiated a re-referral for MAID.” The report noted that her suffering was exacerbated by her “dependency and cognitive decline.” As the Post summarized it: “The MAID provider assessed her eligibility over a single interaction, and with a family member present.” The provider stated that it was “clear she did not want to continue to live as she (was).”