Advocates of so-called “assisted suicide” or “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) insist that the “merciful” act of government-sanctioned euthanasia will be reserved only for rare cases of terminally ill patients in severe pain. But more and more stories are piling up indicating that is far from the reality.
Canada has long been ahead of the assisted suicide curve. Lawmakers there passed a MAID law in 2016 that initially only allowed adults to request doctor-assisted suicide when their death was “reasonably foreseeable.” In 2021, however, the Canadian government removed that requirement, opening MAID to virtually anyone. The results have been predictably tragic.
As of last December, MAID accounted for 1 in 20 deaths in Canada – about 15,300 people. In about four percent of those cases, or more than 600 people, death was not deemed reasonably foreseeable. In other words, more than 600 lives were prematurely snuffed out by doctors with the blessing of the Canadian government.
Some of the most shocking stories have come out of Veterans Affairs Canada, which faces allegations of routinely offering euthanasia to soldiers struggling with conditions like PTSD. David Baltzer, a Canadian combat veteran, recently shared with the Toronto Sun that just before Christmas 2019, amid a difficult time in his life, a federal case worker offered him euthanasia.
“It made me wonder, were they really there to help us, or slowly groom us to say ‘here’s a solution, just kill yourself,’” Baltzer said. He recounted being asked, “Have you thought about medical-assisted suicide?”
Sadly, Baltzer is not alone. As many as 20 veterans may have been offered assisted suicide by Veterans Affairs Canada. Mark Meincke, a veteran whose trauma recovery podcast helped break the story, explained that many veterans delay seeking help, sometimes for years. “We’re desperate by the time we put our hands up for help,” he said. “Offering MAID is like throwing a cinder block instead of a life preserver.”
In 2022, Veterans Affairs Canada admitted to inappropriate discussions about euthanasia, but insisted they were isolated incidents.
Canada’s MAID regime, like similar policies elsewhere, began with assurances that only those enduring unbearable suffering from terminal illness would be eligible. But as AMAC Newsline has previously reported, a growing number of accounts allege doctors and officials promote euthanasia to patients who might otherwise receive medical care. Disabled, elderly, and even young people with non-terminal conditions have been steered toward early death.
The financial incentives are self-evident, and the moral hazard is profound.
Assisted suicide is often easier to access than conventional medical care in Canada, largely because it’s cheaper for the government to provide a lethal injection than fund ongoing treatment – a problem rooted in the country’s lethargic socialized healthcare system.
Worse still, Canada’s assisted suicide regime could be set to become even more extreme in the months ahead. By 2027, lawmakers in Ottawa plan to extend the law to individuals suffering solely from mental illness – raising serious questions about how anyone with a severe mental illness is in a state of mind to provide informed consent.
This troubling erosion of safeguards is also spreading through Europe. In the Netherlands, euthanasia deaths rose by 10 percent in 2024, reaching nearly 10,000, with deaths for psychiatric reasons increasing from two in 2010 to 219 in 2024.
Review committees urge caution as more young people with psychological issues request euthanasia.
As Amsterdam psychiatrist Damiaan Denys put it, “How can one, at that age, determine with certainty that a young person with a still-developing brain definitely wants to die, that life is experienced as hopeless and without prospects and that all treatments have already been carried out?”
In France, a new bill legalizing assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses has reignited fierce debate. Opponents argue the real crisis is poor palliative care – nearly half of those needing it don’t receive adequate support, especially in retirement homes and among the poor.
Meanwhile, Tuscany became Italy’s first region to pass a “right-to-die” law despite national division and critics who warn of a “state death” system that targets “sick, fragile, old, and lonely people”
In Britain, Parliament is on the verge of legalizing assisted suicide for the terminally ill, with public opinion shifting and new Labour MPs framing the cause as a civil right akin to abortion or gay marriage. This year, legislation is advancing across England, Wales, Scotland, and also parts of the British Isles like the Isle of Man and Jersey allowing terminally ill adults to seek medical assistance to end their lives.
Assisted suicide thus far hasn’t gained as much traction in the United States – although that may be changing. In New York, the Medical Aid in Dying Act has passed the Assembly and is gaining traction in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she will move the bill forward once enough Democrat support is secured.
“There are very, very serious concerns, this is not a religious issue,” said Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference. Poust highlighted key assembly members of color who voted against the bill, including Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Michaelle Solages, the head of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus, and Brooklyn Democrat Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn.
Bichotte Hermelyn and other Democrat critics have consistently raised worries that existing health disparities could lead to vulnerable communities of color being disproportionately pressured toward assisted dying.
Whether in New York, Canada, or Europe, the pattern with assisted suicide is obvious. Wherever a euthanasia push takes root, it metastasizes. What begins as an exception soon becomes the rule. Bureaucrats and doctors, under mounting financial pressure and overburdened systems, begin to see death as a solution, not something to prevent.
Giving suicide the stamp of government approval is not compassion. It is a failure of care and a betrayal of the vulnerable. Now more than ever, we need a renewed moral clarity to abandon this dangerous trajectory. What began as a narrowly defined “right” has become a system where vulnerable people, especially veterans and the disabled, find themselves steered not toward help, but death.
Sarah Katherine Sisk is a proud Hillsdale College alumna and a master’s student in economics at George Mason University. You can follow her on X @SKSisk76.
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