MAiD
Conservative MP warns Canada to stop ‘wrong’ and ‘dangerous’ euthanasia expansion to mentally ill
MP Michael Cooper
From LifeSiteNews
On March 9, 2024, Medical Assistance in Dying is set to include those suffering solely from mental illness and MP Michael Cooper said Canadians ought to be ‘offered hope and help’ and ‘not death.’
Canada is set to go down a “very dangerous road in March of 2024” should it proceed with expanding euthanasia to the mentally ill, warned Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who urged the Liberal federal government to immediately “scrap” its “radical” assisted-suicide program and instead offer “hope” for the suffering.
“Unless the Liberals reverse course, Canada is set to go down a very dangerous road in March of 2024, when MAiD for mental illness becomes available,” Cooper said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
“There is something they (the federal government) can do. Canada doesn’t need to go ahead with this, what the Liberals need to do is follow the evidence, stop the madness, and introduce legislation to permanently scrap this radical expansion.”
Cooper then said Canadians who are “suffering from mental health issues” ought to be “offered hope and help” and “not death.”
On March 9, 2024, euthanasia in Canada, or Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) as it is known, is set to expand to include those suffering solely from mental illness. This is a result of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for so-called doctor-assisted death.
The expansion comes despite warnings from top Canadian psychiatrists who said the country is “not ready” for the coming expansion of euthanasia to those who are mentally ill, adding that the procedure is not something “society should be doing” as it could lead to deaths under a “false pretense.”
Cooper noted that the law itself is ambiguous in that it leaves open the door to anyone being approved for the grim procedure.
“It is impossible to accurately predict your immediate reality under the law,” said Cooper, adding, “The leading medical professionals said that Canada isn’t ready for two fundamental reasons.”
“The first is that in order to qualify for MAiD, someone must suffer from an irremediable disease or illness, and afterwards one must suffer from a disease or illness in which they are not going to get better, and they are in an irreversible state of decline,” he noted.
Cooper observed how medical professionals have said that suffering from mental illness can’t “accurately be predicted, and so, therefore, persons who could get better, who could go on to lead healthy and happy lives, will have their lives prematurely ended.”
He then noted that a second “fundamental problem” with expanding MAiD to those with mental illness is the difficulty to “distinguish in the case of mental illness between a rational request for aid and one motivated by suicidal ideation.”
“This is underscored by the fact that the vast majority of persons who commit suicide suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder. And you might be wondering who would qualify for MAiD in mental illness? What constitutes a mental disorder for the purpose of the law?”
As it stands now, according to a task group appointed by the Liberals that was struck to establish MAiD practice “standards,” anyone would qualify “if they suffer from a mental disorder listed in” the standards guide, which includes those who are depressed, autistic, or having addictions issues.
Cooper said that the standards as written are “radical” as well as “dangerous” and “wrong.”
The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March 2023. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians and others, the Liberals under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39, which becomes law next year.
The delay in expanding MAiD until 2024 also came after numerous public scandals, including the surfacing of reports that Canadian veterans were being offered the fatal procedure by workers at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).
When it comes to MAiD, more Canadians are dying from the procedure every year. Indeed, a recent Statistics Canada update admitted to excluding euthanasia from deaths totals despite being the sixth highest cause of mortality in the nation.
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection since 2016 now stands at 44,958.
Stopping euthanasia expansion still possible, says pro-life advocate
Recently, LifeSiteNews reported on how pro-euthanasia lobbyists want Canada’s assisted suicide via lethal injection laws to be extended to drug addicts, which critics warn could lead the nation down a dangerous path nearing “eugenics.”
Recent attempts by the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) to stop the expansion of MAiD have failed.
MPs in the House of Commons voted down a private members’ bill introduced by CPC MP Ed Fast that would have repealed the expansion of euthanasia laws to those suffering from mental illness.
However, according to LifeSiteNews contributor and pro-life advocate Jonathon Van Maren, Canadian Justice Minister Arif Virani noted that the “Trudeau government is considering delaying the expansion once again.”
Virani recently told The Canadian Press that the Liberal government is “weighing our options” about expanding MAiD in March while currently assessing what the joint parliamentary committee and medical experts are telling them.
“We’ll evaluate all of that comprehensively to make a decision whether we move ahead on March 17 or whether we pause,” he noted.
For respectful communication with Justice Minister Arif Virani:
Email: [email protected]
Constituency Office phone: 416-769-5072
Parliamentary Office phone: 613-992-2936
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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