Don’t stop talking about Canada,” the EFC’s public policy director recently urged an international colleague. Canada’s rapid expansion of euthanasia is seen as a cautionary tale in other countries of how badly things can go.
Sharing the negative impacts of Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) laws can make other countries think carefully and decide against passing similar laws. They can learn from Canada’s mistakes.
Drawing international attention is also a way to advocate for change in Canadian law. An EFC brief to a UN committee points out the devastating impact of the euthanasia law on people with disabilities. It gives examples of people with disabilities who are ending their lives using MAiD because they don’t have the resources or support to live.
As we continue to do here at home, in the UN brief the EFC recommended Canada repeal MAiD for mental illness and Track 2 MAiD (for those who are not dying) and not expand MAiD to youth.
Euthanasia is becoming increasingly widespread and normalized in Canada. The numbers continue to increase. Health Canada reports 15,343 people ended their lives by MAiD in 2023, just under 5% of all deaths that year – that’s 1 in 20. Since 2016, when the first euthanasia law was passed, until 2023 a total of 60,301 people have died by MAiD.
The federal government has been holding consultations this winter on whether to allow advance requests for MAiD. This would remove the critical safeguard that a person must be able to consent at the time their life is ended. The EFC expressed strong opposition to advance requests.
We lament that so many of our neighbours, family and friends are ending their lives by MAiD. We also lament the ongoing pressure to expand the law even more.
However, we feel hopeful when we see Christians and ministries in Canada reaching out to their neighbours, offering comfort and tangible help. This is a time when our faith can play a significant role. The suffering that leads people to end their lives by euthanasia is often spiritual, social or existential.
The latest statistics help explain the suffering cited by those who ended their life by MAiD in 2023. Almost everyone identified the inability to engage in meaningful activities as a factor behind their request. Almost half indicated feeling like a burden, and two-thirds felt a loss of dignity. Loneliness or isolation was a factor for one in five people in Track 1 MAiD (whose death was reasonably foreseeable), rising to almost half of people in Track 2 MAiD (who were not otherwise near death).
“The church has so much to offer people who are feeling a lack of meaning, loneliness, loss of dignity, or who feel they are a burden,” says Julia Beazley, EFC director of public policy in Ottawa. “Scripture teaches that each person’s life has value, meaning and purpose. We are created by God, in His image, and loved by Him. Life is a gift He gives for all our days. It is not dependent on our productivity, social circumstancesor age, health or ability.”
We can make a difference in the lives of our neighbours. It’s important to reach out to our neighbours in tangible ways, and to affirm the value and purpose of their lives. Together we can ask for a law to stop MAiD for mental illness taking effect in 2027. We can let MPs and federal candidates know we don’t want MAiD to be expanded further.
We saw a glimmer of hope recently when we participated in Alberta consultations on how to improve MAiD oversight and safeguards. We were encouraged by the good questions being asked and the meaningful changes proposed.
Above all, our hope is in God who is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.
How to promote life and limit euthanasia
- Reach out to your neighbours, friends and family to let them know they are loved and that their lives have purpose and value.
- Please join us in asking MPs and candidates to stop the expansion of MAiD. Find your MP’s contact information at OurCommons.ca. See EFC resources at TheEFC.ca/HaltMAiD.
- Please continue to pray for those who are vulnerable to MAiD in our country.
Also in this issue:
EFC research prompted restructuring, Connecting in the Maritimes, The EFC revives Church & Faith Trends, A word from EFC President David Guretzki.