MAiD
Canadian media’s MAiD coverage often fails to share testimony of suffering people
From LifeSiteNews
Member of Parliament Andrew Lawton, who survived a suicide attempt in 2010, has kicked off a campaign calling on Canadians to publicly share their experiences with mental illness in support of MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill C-218, the “Right to Recover Act.”
The “I Got Better” campaign features Lawton’s own story, in which a long struggle with depression led to a suicide attempt, a coma, and a lengthy hospital stay. If euthanasia for mental illness had been available during his darkest days, Lawton says, he probably would not be alive today.
“We need your help right now to protect vulnerable Canadians,” says the website. “The most important message we can send to those struggling with mental health is that hope is always possible. The ‘I Got Better’ campaign is about showing how the desire to end your life because of mental illness doesn’t have to be permanent. It’s possible for people to heal and to flourish, but not if we give up on them.”
“The Right to Recover Act is a private member’s bill brought forward by Conservative MP Tamara Jansen and seconded by MP Andrew Lawton. If passed, this bill will amend the Criminal Code to permanently stop the scheduled 2027 expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) solely for mental illness.”
A previous iteration of the bill, put forward by retired MP Ed Fast, failed at second reading in 2023 by the narrow margin of 167 to 150. The New Democrats and several Liberals joined their Conservative colleagues in voting against euthanasia for mental illness. With only a handful of Liberal votes, the Right to Recover Act could become law. MPs, Lawton says, desperately need to hear from Canadians about the reality of living with mental illness—and recovery.
A new report from Meagan Gilmore at Canadian Affairs highlights the need for the “I Got Better” campaign:
Canadian journalists need to significantly change how they report on medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness, a new report says. Most news articles about MAID for mental illness do not include perspectives from people with mental illnesses, the report says.
‘The voice and everyday experiences of people with lived experience of mental illness were limited [in news articles],’ says the report, released July 15 by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at Toronto Metropolitan University. ‘This absence raises concerns about the implications of MAID’s expansion for impacted communities.’
Danielle Landry, the report’s lead author, and her team “examined 367 English Canadian news articles about MAID for mental illness published between 2020 and 2024.” Most examined federal euthanasia legislation. According to the report: “This suggests that articles are geared more towards politically astute readers, rather than informing the average Canadian about what’s at stake in this debate.”
The report “recommends journalists instead report on MAID as a public health issue,” as people living with mental illness—those at direct risk from the upcoming eligibility expansion in March 2027—are “rarely included in news articles about MAID for mental illness.” Mental illness, instead, is usually merely described as “suffering.” The report concluded: “When mental illness is repeatedly framed in the context of suffering, the framing effect could serve to reinforce notions that life with severe mental illness is not worth living.”
“The clock is ticking,” Landry told Canadian Affairs. “It’s almost 2027. It’s really important that there is space in that public discourse in which people with lived and living experiences can … share our knowledge and experience to actually contribute to that debate.” The “I Got Better” campaign is an essential way to do that—and it will encourage journalists to cover the stories of Canadians living with mental illness.
“Send your stories or videos to [email protected] or post them on social media using the hashtag #IGotBetter,” Lawton’s website urges. “Members of Parliament need to see how real people have been affected by mental illness to understand how important Bill C-218 is.”
Each video has the potential to sway an MP’s vote. Dying with Dignity has long understood the power of stories, and the stories of those who might be dead if they had not had the right to recover must be heard to counter their narrative.
From LifeSiteNews
Jolene Van Alstine, approved for state-sanctioned euthanasia after enduring long wait times to receive care for a rare parathyroid disease, is in need of a passport to enter the U.S.
Well-known American media personality Glenn Beck says he has been in touch with the U.S. State Department to help a Canadian woman in Saskatchewan reconsider euthanasia after she sought assisted suicide due to long medical wait times to address her health problems.
As reported by LifeSiteNews on Tuesday, Canadian woman Jolene Van Alstine was approved to die by state-sanctioned euthanasia because she has had to endure long wait times to get what she considers to be proper care for a rare parathyroid disease.
Van Alstine’s condition, normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT), causes her to experience vomiting, nausea, and bone pain.
Her cause caught the attention of Beck and many other prominent Americans and Canadians on X.
In an update today on X, Beck said, “Jolene does not have a passport to gain legal entry into the U.S., but my team has been in touch with President (Donald) Trump’s State Department.”
“All I can say for now is they are aware of the urgent life-saving need, and we had a very positive call,” he added.
Beck had said before that he was in “contact with Jolene and her husband” and that he had “surgeons who emailed us standing by to help her.”
As of press time, neither the State Department nor other officials have not yet confirmed Beck’s claim that he has been in touch with them.
As a result of Van Alstine’s frustrations with the healthcare system, she applied for Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and was approved for January 7.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, over 23,000 Canadians have died while on wait lists for medical care as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is focused on euthanasia expansions.
A new Euthanasia Prevention Coalition report revealed that Canada has euthanized 90,000 people since 2016, the year it was legalized.
As reported by LifeSiteNews recently, a Conservative MP’s private member’s bill that, if passed, would ban euthanasia for people with mental illness received the full support of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
From LifeSiteNews
Jolene Van Alstine was approved for euthanasia after tiring of waiting years for surgery in Canada
A Canadian woman is looking to die by state-sanctioned euthanasia because she has had to endure long wait times to get what she considers to be proper care for a rare parathyroid disease.
The woman is Jolene Van Alstine, whose condition, normocalcemic primary hyperparathyroidism (nPHPT), causes her to experience vomiting, nausea, and bone pain.
As noted in a recent CBC report, Van Alstine claims she is not able to get proper surgery to remove her parathyroid in her home province of Saskatchewan, as there are no surgeons in that province who can perform that type of surgery.
She has said her “friends have stopped visiting me” and she is “isolated” and living “alone lying on the couch for eight years, sick and curled up in a ball, pushing for the day to end.”
“I go to bed at six at night because I can’t stand to be awake anymore,” she said.
As a result of her frustrations with the healthcare system, Van Alstine applied for Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). She was approved for the procedure on January 7, 2026.
Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill met with Van Alstine last month to try to see if he could help her, but what they talked about remains confidential.
“The Government of Saskatchewan expresses its sincere sympathy for all patients who are suffering with a difficult health diagnosis,” the government said.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, over 23,000 Canadians have died while on wait lists for medical care as Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government is focused on euthanasia expansions.
A new Euthanasia Prevention Coalition report revealed that Canada has euthanized 90,000 people since 2016, the year it was legalized.
Americans offering Jolene surgery help now say they have made contact with her
Van Alstine’s story has gone viral on the social media platform X, catching the attention of well-known American personalities, some who have claimed they can help her.
“If there is any surgeon in America who can do this, I’ll pay for this patient to come down here for treatment,” Glenn Beck wrote Tuesday on X.
“THIS is the reality of ‘compassionate’ progressive healthcare. Canada must END this insanity and Americans can NEVER let it spread here.”
According to Beck in a subsequent X post, he has had “surgeons who emailed us standing by to help her.”
“We are in contact with Jolene and her husband! Please continue to pray for her health,” he wrote on X.
“Will update more soon.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews recently, a Conservative MP’s private member’s bill that, if passed, would ban euthanasia for people with mental illness received the full support of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
Lobby groups have pushed for MAiD to be expanded to minors.
Desiring to expand the procedure to even more Canadians, former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government sought to expand from just the chronically and terminally ill to those suffering solely from mental illness. The current Liberal government appears to want to continue with the MAiD regime.
However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
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