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MAiD

Saskatchewan seniors say they were offered euthanasia when faced with increased hospice costs

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4 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Most Canadians fear the nation’s euthanasia regime unfairly targets those who are financially and socially vulnerable

A senior aged Canadian couple has said that a hospice care center presented euthanasia to one of them as an option as they were facing increased care costs they could not afford on their fixed income.

71-year-old Fred Sandeski from Saskatchewan, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) along with a host of other ailments such as diabetes and epilepsy, and his wife Teresa, who also has failing health, say death via Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying euthanasia program was suggested to them when they realized they would not be able to cover the costs associated with increased care at a hospice center.

According to the Epoch Times, when Fred started with palliative care, “they were just listing us the availability of what options they had for us,” and MAiD was presented as “one option.”

Thankfully, Sandeski refused MAiD, saying, “I really, really believe that the Lord has put me on this earth for a reason, and he’s not going to let me go until I’m done.” 

Sandeski’s plight was brought to the attention of the provincial government of Saskatchewan by the opposition New Democratic Party’s shadow minister for seniors, Keith Jorgenson, who encouraged Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill to help the couple.

In response, Cockrill said that he had reached out to the Sandeskis and would “find a solution that’s going to work for Fred and Theresa this week.” 

He added that when it comes to the care home having offered them MAiD as a solution to their plight, he would “hope that any health care professional in this province, having those discussions with a patient has a strong understanding of the patient’s health and familial context.” 

Instances of people being offered MAiD as a solution to their health issues have become commonplace in Canada, as reported by LifeSiteNews.  

Indeed, most Canadians fear the nation’s euthanasia regime unfairly targets those who are financially and socially vulnerable while still supporting the immoral practice in general.   

Recently, the United Conservative government of Alberta said it would push back against the Canadian federal government’s continued desire to expand euthanasia in the nation, announcing it will be launching a review of the legislation and policies surrounding the grim practice, which will include a period of public engagement.  

Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government legalized MAiD in 2016, the deadly program has continued to relax who is eligible for death.

In 2021, the program expanded from killing only terminally ill patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify, as since then the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.

The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection under the nation’s MAiD program since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.   

Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023. 

International

Trump admin wants to help Canadian woman rethink euthanasia, Glenn Beck says

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

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.

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.

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Health

US podcaster Glenn Beck extends a lifeline to a Saskatchewan woman waiting for MAiD

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

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.

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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