Dear Friend,
Six months. That’s how long we have left.
On March 17, 2024, Canadians 18 or over suffering from mental illness (like depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia) will be allowed to end their lives via euthanasia or doctor-assisted suicide.
Amazingly, a recent poll shows that 64% of Canadians are still not aware of this looming change.
This is a watershed moment in our country. We are witnessing a striking cultural shift that will define how and with what urgency we as a society treat those with mental illness.
If lawmakers do nothing in the next six months to delay or, better yet, to reverse the laws that allow medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for adults with mental illness alone, many Canadians are going to end up in harm’s way.
The worth or value of a person’s life will be determined by whether the person is suffering from a mental illness or not. If otherwise healthy, a person who expresses a wish to take his or her life will be offered suicide prevention services. People struggling with mental illness, on the other hand, may no longer be dissuaded from following through with their suicidal wishes and even helped to end their lives.
This type of thinking has already invaded our health care system. A family doctor in Ontario recently shared this story: A young patient with a health condition became suicidal and was hospitalized. One of the psychiatrists treating the patient made a note that the patient had the right to end her life. When this became known, “many people had to rush and come up with a home plan – a home safety plan – because none of us felt that the hospital was safe.”
I am not normally an alarmist, but this expansion of MAiD is deeply alarming to me. It is a cause for significant concern for anyone living with mental illness and those who love them.
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, in any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have – or have had – a mental illness.
This means we will all be affected by mental illness either directly or indirectly (through family, friends, or neighbours) during our lifetime. This MAiD expansion will strike close to home for us all.
The law limits MAiD to those suffering from irremediable and irreversible conditions. But experts say it is impossible to determine if an individual’s mental illness is incurable or that it will not improve with treatment. Psychiatrists don’t know and can’t know who will get better. Not enough is known about mental illness, how it changes over time, and what treatments will work for each individual. One psychiatrist has described trying to decide which patients would not improve as guesswork, saying, “If you’re okay with guesswork, if you’re okay with playing the odds, or if your position is [to] respect autonomy at all costs if someone wants to die, they can die. But call it what it is. It’s facilitated suicide.”
As well, despair and suicidality can be a symptom of some mental illnesses. The wish to die might go away if their condition is managed. However, the law only requires that the patient be
informed of treatment options. A patient can refuse any or all treatments and still be eligible for doctor-assisted suicide. This makes Canada the most permissive jurisdiction in the world when it comes to doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia.
In Belgium and the Netherlands, doctors are not allowed to euthanize a patient if they believe the mental suffering may be alleviated by treatments that have not yet been tried. However, the Canadian government has not added safeguards like this despite all the recommendations made by mental health experts.
There are also financial barriers to receiving treatment that put it out of reach for many low-income Canadians, leaving them with no choice
but MAiD. One Canadian youth has pointed out that it costs “up to $200 an hour for therapy, but you are looking to expand access to MAiD…and to make it cost-free!”
Finally, there are serious concerns over the current state of Canada’s overburdened health care system. The need for mental health support and treatment is significant, but the supports and treatment available are limited. The wait times for counseling services are generally longer than the three-month reflection period for MAiD. Even those with means and access to treatment are at risk of dying from doctor-assisted suicide in times of particular vulnerability and hopelessness.
In six months, the responsibility of determining whether a person with mental illness alone will be approved for MAiD will fall on a health care system that is already under extreme stress, increasing the risk of wrongful deaths.
It seems unlikely that the government will halt the MAiD expansion unless there is an outcry by Canadians to do so. If you haven’t already done so, please
urge your MP to reverse the law allowing MAiD for those with mental illness alone!
We want the Church in Canada to join us in
praying fervently to stop this expansion. And please
make a gift to support our urgent efforts to increase public awareness of this issue and to advocate for the protection of society’s most vulnerable on the Hill. We have six months to stop this MAiD expansion.
Will you help?
With urgency,
Dr. David Guretzki
President & CEO