For immediate release from The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
September 25, 2023
The EFC launches “Before it’s too late” campaign to stop MAiD for mental illness
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) has launched a campaign calling for the repeal of the law allowing medical assistance in dying in Canada for those suffering with mental illness alone, due to take effect in Canada in March 2024.
“Before It’s Too Late” is an awareness and resourcing campaign to encourage individual and church action to stop an expansion of MAiD that the EFC – and many other concerned voices – considers a dangerous mistake.
“As we near the March 2024 date when medical assistance in dying will become available to our fellow Canadians suffering from mental illness alone, we are inviting Christians and churches to become educated on this issue, and then act,” says EFC President David Guretzki.
“All through the journey of MAiD becoming legal in Canada, the EFC has consistently stood up for the value of human life and for the strongest possible safeguards to protect Canadians in moments of vulnerability. We’ve asked for things like more accessible palliative care and better medical and other supports for people living with disability or terminal illness, and we’ve worked to help churches consider how they can play a part in that,” says Guretzki.
“Now we are approaching an even more dangerous path, one that would make us the most permissive society in the world when it comes to death for our own citizens. For someone suffering from a mental illness to have euthanasia readily available is unacceptable. It’s time for the Church to speak again.”
The EFC invites churches across Canada to pray together on Sunday, Oct. 22, for a stop to euthanasia for mental illness. Resources are available at TheEFC.ca/MAiDPrayer.
The EFC also offers a Church Action Kit with additional resources to inform and equip churches and individuals to pray and engage. The kit (TheEFC.ca/TakeActionOnMAiD) has been carefully written to be concise and easily understood, allowing readers to quickly be brought up to date and move into action, including contacting MPs and other ways of speaking out against the further expansion of MAiD.