Doctors are euthanising prisoners in Canada under the country’s Medical Assistance in Dying regime (MAID).
According to the Canadian Government, doctors have killed ten inmates since the practice was first legalised in 2016.
Deaths by euthanasia and assisted suicide now account for 1 in every 25 deaths in Canada.
‘Medical homicide’
Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety Jennifer O’Connell said that, as of 13 February 2024, the total number of requests received by Correctional Service for MAID was 37, of which ten were approved.
Alex Schadenberg – the Executive Director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition – warned that unless the law is changed, people “who have an ‘irremediable medical condition’ and want to escape prison life, will seek death by medical homicide”.
Official figures show that MAID has resulted in the deaths of 44,958 Canadians since 2016.
Expansion
In 2022 alone, more than 13,000 people were killed under MAID – 4.1% of the total number of deaths. The vast majority of these were from euthanasia, with only a handful of people choosing to self-administer the lethal drugs.
The expansion of eligibility criteria to include people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness was passed by Parliament in 2021, although implementation has now been delayed until 2027. Health Canada said, “the health system is not yet ready for this expansion”.
Campaign Life Coalition’s National President Jeff Gunnarson has called for the plans to be completely axed, saying: “Canadians suffering from mental illness need compassionate care, not killing.”
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