{"id":62165,"date":"2025-09-24T12:09:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T10:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=62165"},"modified":"2025-09-24T12:09:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T10:09:00","slug":"canada-the-horrors-of-assisted-suicide-uncovered-by-the-atlantic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/09\/24\/canada-the-horrors-of-assisted-suicide-uncovered-by-the-atlantic\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada, the Horrors of Assisted Suicide Uncovered by The Atlantic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"canada<\/p>\n

Assisted suicide in Canada<\/strong> is out of control. A lengthy investigation by the magazine The Atlantic<\/strong> denounces this, previewing what will happen in countries where it becomes legal.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

It was supposed to be reserved for terminally ill patients; today it represents about 5%<\/strong> of all deaths.<\/p>\n

This concerns assisted suicide in Canada<\/strong><\/mark>, legal through the so-called Medical Assistance in Dying<\/i> (MAiD), the subject of an investigation by The Atlantic<\/a><\/em><\/strong> authored by Elaina Plott Calabro.<\/p>\n

A powerful piece in the American magazine that is certainly not “biased” and that anyone should read<\/strong> to understand the fate reserved for countries where assisted suicide is legalized. Calling the scenario horror<\/strong><\/em> is an understatement.<\/p>\n

In 2023<\/strong> the people who died by assisted suicide numbered 60,000<\/strong>. In Quebec<\/strong> the percentage exceeds 7%<\/strong> of deaths, the highest rate in the world.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The slippery slope of assisted suicide in Canada<\/h2>\n

It is the country that realized all the predictions<\/strong> of critics, starting from the inevitable slippery slope<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The law was born only for seriously ill<\/strong> and terminal patients, then it was extended to people affected by illnesses but not at risk of death<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In two years it will be accessible to those suffering from mental disorders<\/strong> and Parliament is working to guarantee access for minors<\/strong>, with the obligation to consult parents but without requiring their consent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Quebec College of Physicians<\/em> raised the possibility of legalizing euthanasia for newborns<\/strong> born with “severe malformations”, a rare practice currently legal only in the Netherlands and which, it is specified, was “the first country to adopt it after Nazi Germany in 1939”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Thus, it is read, “the demand for euthanasia began to outstrip<\/strong> doctors’ ability to provide it”<\/i>. On the other hand the repeated desire of patients to die will always take precedence<\/strong> over any strict legal condition once the first opening is made.<\/p>\n

Over time an innovative interpretation<\/strong> of “incurable medical condition” emerged, that is when it cannot be cured by means acceptable to the patient. The patient’s autonomy prevails above all<\/strong> and is unquestionable so, it is written, anyone with absolutely curable symptoms but simply not willing to be treated<\/strong> can access euthanasia.<\/p>\n

“Many decisions about life and death,”<\/i> writes the journalist, “are based on the personal values of doctors and patients rather than on objective medical criteria”<\/i>. This is the view of psychologist Madeline Li<\/strong>, a pioneer of MAiD but today very uncomfortable with the degeneration<\/strong> her country has experienced.<\/p>\n

“Being tired of life<\/strong>“<\/i> as a sufficient reason to access suicide, explains the psychologist, “theoretically is not legal. But the truth is that it is, it always has been, and it is happening<\/strong>“<\/i> in many cases.<\/p>\n

The future of euthanasia, it is written, “is no longer under the control<\/strong> of the laws”<\/i> and “the continuous expansion is not a reality the government is choosing, but rather allowing<\/strong>“<\/i>. After all, if autonomy in death is an inviolable right, is there anyone who should not be helped to die? Why only terminally ill patients<\/strong> and not literally anyone?<\/p>\n

Comments Elaina Plott Calabro: “It is not entirely correct to say that Canada slipped down a slippery slope, because staying away from it never seems to have been<\/strong> the priority”<\/i>. And once the legalization of assisted suicide is started “it becomes extremely difficult<\/strong> to contain”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Social pressure on the disabled and the elderly<\/h2>\n

Plott Calabro<\/strong> also recounts the shift from protecting individual autonomy to social pressure on the elderly and disabled<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“It is easier<\/strong> to access MAiD than to get a wheelchair”<\/i>, admitted Carla Qualtrough<\/strong>, minister for disability inclusion. Many disabled people and chronically ill patients in fact report perceiving assisted death as the only possible way<\/strong>: “Almost half of Canadians who died because of assisted death considered themselves a burden to family and friends<\/strong>“<\/i>, writes the investigation’s author.<\/p>\n

Emblematic is the case of Sathya Dhara Kovac<\/strong>, affected by ALS, who wrote her obituary before dying by euthanasia: “It was not a genetic disease that killed me, it was the system<\/strong>“<\/i>. After unsuccessfully requesting adequate home care services, she concluded that death was more accessible than life.<\/p>\n

The testimonies collected by The Atlantic<\/em> describe a country in which “citizens with disabilities are assisted more in death than in life”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What is happening is that “many worried family members have no choice but to take their loved one to court<\/strong> to try to stop a scheduled death”<\/i>, convinced that they are not able to decide autonomously and that the clinics they turn to arbitrarily<\/strong> and from time to time change the requirements to bring patients to suicide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Apps and failed checks on irregularities<\/h2>\n

Elaina Plott Calabro<\/strong> describes the doctors who perform euthanasia as powerful corporations, who meet at conferences with buffets and DJ sets<\/strong>. In Vancouver she met several of them, including neurologist Gord Gubitz<\/strong> who considers euthanasia “energizing”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

“The difference”<\/i>, comments the journalist, “is that, 10 years ago, what many of the participants do as work would have been considered murder”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

And then the total ambiguity<\/strong> of the Canadian situation.<\/p>\n

The definition of “incurable condition<\/strong>” now includes not what is incurable, but what the patient does not intend<\/strong> to cure.<\/p>\n

Not to mention the proliferation of apps that for $10.99<\/strong> help you organize the “farewell ceremony”, after setting the death date on the calendar. For children there are even proposals for “pajama parties” in funeral homes or the painting of a coffin<\/strong> in a schoolyard.<\/p>\n

The Atlantic<\/em> also touches on the alleged “rigorous<\/strong> assessment of capacity to understand and will”<\/i> that the law provides to proceed with euthanasia on patients with cognitive deficits. It is read that “of the hundreds of irregularities<\/strong> reported over the years”<\/i> almost all are quickly dismissed and “no case has ever been referred<\/strong> to law enforcement for investigation”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ambiguity and chaos of the Canadian scenario<\/h2>\n

Not all doctors are in favor; some do it only out of a sense of duty<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What strikes us is what Jonathan Reggler<\/strong>, a doctor, says: “Once it is accepted that people should have autonomy, that life is not sacred<\/strong> and that it can be taken only by God, a being in whom I do not believe, then some of us must step forward and say: ‘We do it'”<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Another doctor, Claude Rivard, finally recounts a patient who calls to cancel the scheduled euthanasia<\/strong>, requested after a motorcycle accident that had left him blind and in a wheelchair. And he rarely received visits.<\/p>\n

When the family<\/strong> learned of his intention, they began to visit him again and that changed everything: “I found pleasure in life again”<\/i>, the man said, “family, children are coming. Even if I cannot see them, I can touch them and talk with them. So I change my mind<\/strong>“<\/i>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Atlantic<\/em> does not speak only of statistics or laws, it is a moral alarm<\/strong>: it puts before us the harsh reality of a society that prefers the death<\/strong> of its citizens rather than guaranteeing them a dignified life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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