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New report shows people are seeking euthanasia because they’re ‘isolated,’ afraid of being homeless

Published

1 year ago

7 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Susan Ciancio, American Life League

According to Ontario’s chief coroner, ‘people asking to be killed’ through euthanasia ‘were more likely to require disability support and be socially isolated,’ and one woman in her 50s ‘asked to die largely because she could not get proper housing.’

Those of us who value the life of all human beings understand the dangers of assisted suicide, or “medical assistance in dying,” as it is euphemistically called in Canada. But now, others have begun to see the horrors of Canada’s laws. A recent article in the Frederick News-Post begins, “An expert committee reviewing euthanasia deaths in Canada’s most populous province has identified several cases where patients asked to be killed in part for social reasons such as isolation and fears of homelessness.” 

The article examines reports issued by Ontario’s chief coroner, who reviewed the euthanasia deaths of those who did not have an allegedly terminal illness. It explains that “Canada’s legal criteria require a [purported] medical reason for euthanasia—a fatal diagnosis or unmanageable pain—but the committee’s reports show cases where people were euthanized based on other factors including an ‘unmet social need.’”

A doctor on this expert committee said she feels vindicated that people are seeing the horrors of what Canada’s laws are doing to people. She stated, “We’ve been gaslit for so many years when we raised fears about people getting MAiD because they were poor, disabled or socially isolated.”

Two such cases were discussed in the article. One was a man in his 40s who suffered with a bowel disease and who had a history of both mental illness and substance abuse. The report described him as “socially vulnerable and isolated.”

The second was a woman in her 50s who was “suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome” and who had a history of PTSD and mental illness. The report states that “she was socially isolated and asked to die largely because she could not get proper housing.”

This report emphasizes what those of us in the pro-life field have been saying for years. Euthanasia is a slippery slope. For example, when a country or a state allows a sick or dying person to end his life prematurely, we open the door for ambiguity of the word “sick.” 

Indeed, what is most disturbing about the findings of this report is that the Ontario coroner found that the “people asking to be killed were more likely to require disability support and be socially isolated.”

What does that say about us as a society when people would rather die because they feel they have no one to help take care of them? 

Our society puts more emphasis on what a person can do than on who a person is. Human beings have become like commodities that we discard when they are no longer useful. 

Caring for others should not be something we are forced to do. It should be something we lovingly do. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. In fact, it can be incredibly difficult to care for someone who is sick or dying. That’s why it should never be something done alone. It takes a team of caregivers – from family, to friends, to sometimes paid staff in facilities or those who make house calls.

For years, I have seen this loving care firsthand with my uncle, whose wife passed away last week after battling dementia. He cared for her at home until he was physically unable to do so. The disease made her combative, and for his health and her safety, he moved her into a care facility. 

But unlike some facilities that have staff who leave residents alone in their rooms or in chairs in large common rooms, those at this facility cared for her. My uncle visited her daily, and he always had glowing remarks about how kindly the staff treated her. 

My uncle is a model of self-giving love that is increasingly uncommon in today’s world. He didn’t stop loving his wife when she became ill. He didn’t think she was better off dead. He didn’t find her to be a burden. On the contrary, he continued to love her because of who she was. The disease stole her memory, but it did not steal his love for her. 

This is the epitome of loving care. This is what it means to be Christ’s hands on earth and to see people with His eyes. 

Suffering is never easy, but walking with someone in their suffering is what we are called to do. My uncle did that beautifully, and he is a model to other struggling caregivers.  

If everyone who was sick or suffering had people to lovingly care for and protect them, I daresay that the desire for assisted suicide would greatly diminish. After all, who would want to hasten death when they feel loved and cherished?

Susan Ciancio is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has worked as a writer and editor for over 20 years; 15 of those years have been in the pro-life sector. Currently, she is the editor of American Life League’s Celebrate Life Magazine—the nation’s premier Catholic pro-life magazine. She is also the director and executive editor of ALL’s Culture of Life Studies Program—a pre-K-12 Catholic pro-life education organization.

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MAiD

Study promotes liver transplants from Canadian euthanasia victims

Published on November 2, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

A new study encourages transplants from euthanasia donors, saying that harvesting the organs of people killed by euthanasia has a ‘real impact’ on organ supply.

A concerning new study shows that liver transplants from euthanasia donors yield similar results as those from other donations, a finding that could increase pressure to euthanize vulnerable Canadians.

On October 26, the Journal of Hepatology published research comparing liver transplants in Canada from donations after circulatory death – a problematic method of organ donation – and from donations of those who were euthanized, in the latest study into increasing organ transplants from euthanasia or so-called “medical assistance in dying” (“MAID”) victims.

“Our study provides the first large-scale Canadian experience, paralleling previous studies from Belgium and the Netherlands, showing that outcomes are positive, while also demonstrating the real impact that MAiD donation can have on the availability of organs,” co-lead investigator A.M. James Shapiro declared.

“While not all individuals pursuing MAiD are suitable for donation for various reasons, we hope that our study will allow a better understanding of the potential role of organ donation following MAiD,” he continued.

Shapiro highlighted, in his view, “how impactful it can be for saving lives of many people in their final act of generosity.”

Canada is one of few countries, alongside Australia, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, that harvests organs from euthanasia victims. Under the Liberal government, Canada has become the world leader in organ donations from people who obtained state-sanctioned euthanasia.

Recently, the interest in the practice has boomed, after the heart of a euthanized Canadian man was successfully harvested and donated to an American man with heart failure.

While many Canadians are left without necessary healthcare and even goaded to end their lives through euthanasia, the Liberal-run health system appears to prioritize the lucrative business of harvesting organs from Canadians killed off by their euthanasia regime.

According to some estimates, a heart is “worth around $1 million in the U.S. Livers come in second, about $557,000, and kidneys cost about $262,000 each. Not to speak about human skin ($10/inch), stomach ($500), and eyeballs ($1,500 each).”

Similarly, conservative Irish think tank academic Dr. Angelo Bottone has warned against a push to harvest organs from euthanasia victims before they are killed.

“While donation after euthanasia is already happening in those countries, doctors are now discussing harvesting organs before  euthanasia patients are declared dead, in order to preserve organ viability,” Bottone wrote.

“They propose that organs be removed under general anaesthesia before the patient is declared dead, thereby maintaining continuous blood circulation and oxygenation to the organs until the moment of retrieval,” the scholar continued. “This method could significantly improve the quality and quantity of organs available for transplantation.”

The most recent reports show that euthanasia is the sixth highest cause of death in Canada. However, it was not listed as such in Statistics Canada’s top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022.

Asked why euthanasia was left off the list, the agency said that it records the illnesses that led Canadians to choose to end their lives via euthanasia, not the actual cause of death, as the primary cause of death.

According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by lethal euthanasia injections. This accounts for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year, a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.

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MAiD

Disabled Canadians increasingly under pressure to opt for euthanasia during routine doctor visits

Published on October 26, 2025

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

Inclusion Canada reported to Parliament that disabled Canadians feeling pressure to choose assisted suicide is a ‘weekly’ occurrence due to MAiD expansion to the non-terminally ill.

Inclusion Canada CEO Krista Carr revealed that many disabled Canadians are being pressured to end their lives with euthanasia during routine medical appointments.

During an October 8 session of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Carr, an advocate against Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), explained that Canada’s expansion of MAiD to the non-terminally ill has led to people with disabilities being pressured to end their lives during unrelated medical visits.

“Since the bill was brought in around Track 2 MAID … that has certainly changed people’s interactions with the healthcare system,” she explained, referring to the 2021 expansion that allowed those who are chronically ill but not terminally ill to be euthanized.

“People with disabilities are now very much afraid in many circumstances to show up in the health care system with regular health concerns, because often MAID is suggested as a solution to what is considered to be intolerable suffering,” she revealed.

Conservative Member of Parliament Garnett Genuis questioned how often people with disabilities are encouraged to have themselves euthanatized. Carr responded that this is a “weekly” occurrence for Canadians living with disabilities.

Carr warned that Canadians living with disabilities are disproportionately targeted by the MAiD expansion because their medical conditions leave them vulnerable to the euthanasia mindset within hospitals. Additionally, according to Carr, “poverty” is considered “intolerable suffering,” making a person eligible to receive MAiD.

Carr’s statement supports internal documents from Ontario doctors in 2024 that revealed Canadians are choosing euthanasia because of poverty and loneliness, not as a result of a terminal illness.

In one case, an Ontario doctor revealed that a middle-aged worker, whose ankle and back injuries had left him unable to work, felt that the government’s insufficient support was “leaving (him) with no choice but to pursue MAiD.”

Overall, 116 of Ontario’s 4,528 euthanasia deaths in 2023 involved non-terminal patients, with many of those killed from impoverished communities.

Data from Ontario’s chief coroner for 2023 revealed that over three-quarters of those euthanized when death wasn’t imminent required disability support before their death.

Similarly, nearly 29% of those killed when they were not terminally ill lived in the poorest parts of Ontario, and only 20% of the province’s general population lives in those areas.

At the same time, the Liberal government has worked to expand MAiD 13-fold since it was legalized, making it the fastest growing euthanasia program in the world.

Currently, wait times to receive care in Canada have increased to an average of 27.7 weeks, leading some Canadians to despair and opt for euthanasia instead of waiting for assistance. At the same time, sick and elderly Canadians who have refused to end their lives via MAiD have reported being called “selfish” by their providers.

The most recent reports show that MAiD is the sixth highest cause of death in Canada. However, it was not listed as such in Statistics Canada’s top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022.

Asked why MAiD was left off the list, the agency said that it records the illnesses that led Canadians to choose to end their lives via euthanasia, not the actual cause of death, as the primary cause of death.

According to Health Canada, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injections in 2022, accounting for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country that year, a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.

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