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During the month of July, some media reported confidently and eagerly that euthanasia requests had decreased during the last 6 months in Quebec. According to their analysis, this decrease would be contrary to the trend observed in other countries that legalized death on demand before us. But is that correct? Not quite, actually. Several points need to be clarified and corrected in these fast-paced statements.

First, the available data are still partial: only 20 of the 28 institutions have published their data ...

Continue Reading → Jumping to conclusions with partial data

When 'safeguards' become 'barriers to access'.

A new chorus of “rebels” is decrying the cruelty of all criteria that dare make reference to the proximity of death. Yet not so long ago, the elected Members of the National Assembly in Quebec (MNAs) were congratulating themselves on the wisdom of their law that made reference to… the end of life. This is another reversal of logic in the long list of changes of rhetoric we have already witnessed.

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Continue Reading → Euthanasia: the slippery slope sold as desired progress

In light of the events of last month, it seems that requests to extend euthanasia do not take holidays.

In Quebec, barely a month after the publication of a letter by the secretary of the College of Physicians – in which he expressed his concern about a growing “pressure demanding a form of death à la carte” and in which he denounced those who interpret refusals of euthanasia as a form of exclusion – lawyer Jean-Pierre Ménard is challenging before ...

Continue Reading → Expected extensions require court approval

A Canadian study recently examined the reasons behind euthanasia cases in four major hospitals in the Toronto area.

The results of the study demonstrate that the main factor behind euthanasia deaths relates to existential distress. Indeed, the primary reason given by patients concerned the loss of autonomy – and not the unbearable pain that was conveniently sold to us from the beginning. Other reasons included fear of becoming a burden to those around them, fear of losing ...

Continue Reading → Behind Euthanasia: Existential Distress

The month of April ended with the publication of the first federal interim report on euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

According to the report, there were 970 people who committed suicide with the assistance of a physician across the country. Nearly half of the euthanasia cases (463) occurred in Quebec during the first year of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care, while the other half (504 cases of euthanasia and 3 assisted suicides) occurred in the rest of Canada ...

Continue Reading → Behind the mountain of numbers