The annual federal report on Medical Assistance in Dying has been released and the findings are worth considering. It will soon be a decade since Canada passed legislation permitting MAID. Not long before this historic decision in 2016 the congregation I served hosted one of the co-chairs of the joint committee of Parliament and the Senate which brought recommendations before the House. Rob Oliphant is a Member of Parliament and a United Church minister and we've known one another for nearly half a century. The event was open to the public and about 100 people showed up on a hot Friday evening on the long weekend in May.
This group of mostly senior citizens was suprisingly receptive to what was shared with them, as were participants in a study group on Palliative Care and MAID, again mostly seniors, which we offered at Trenton UC a few years ago. Most of us oldsters get it that we're going to die and we've seen enough lingering and suffering along the way that we at least want to have the conversation about how the end comes.
There are Christians who feel that any form of "euthanasia" as some choose to call it, is wrong in all circumstances, even though that term means, ironically, "good death." You may recall the Western Canada Roman Catholic bishop who instructed priests in his diocese to withhold the rite of burial from the families of those whose loved ones chose MAID. I still seethe about that monstrous directive and hope the priests ignored it.
The United Church has been criticized for partially supporting Medical Assistance in Dying with provisos that this shouldn't include those with mental illness and that we provide societal safeguards for the vulnerable along every support possible for those who are poor and desparate. The UCC has also been criticized for offering prayers of discernment and support for those making decisions about MAID that don't fit the "never, ever" narrative.
The annual report was helpful in providing statistics about trends and realities. By far the majority were in their late 70s or older and with illnesses that were terminal. The percentage of Canadians dying by MAID appears to be plateauing.
Why do some people feel that it is compassionate or the "will of God" that society insists these people prolong their lives? While I still have considerable concerns about MAID I sat at the bedsides of many individuals who longed for the end. At times it seemed unnatural and even cruel that they were being kept alive by extraordinary measures.
As Christians we can continue to prayerfully consider the moral and ethical implications of choosing death and figure out how we can be a part of that conversation in meaningful ways.
I have looked at the report itself and I'll share an excerpt from a CTV article with key information:
In 2024, 16,499 people received MAID — a figure that represents about five per cent of all deaths in Canada.
That figure was up 6.9 per cent over 2023, when 15,343 people received assisted death. The number of MAID cases grew by 15.8 per cent between 2022 to 2023.
Another 4,017 people who requested an assisted death in 2024 died before they received MAID, and 1,327 requests were deemed ineligible.
In order to be considered eligible, a person must have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition.”
The report identifies some trends in who is choosing assisted dying, and why.
The median age of those who chose MAID last year was 77.9 years. Cancer was the most frequently cited medical condition, affecting more than 63 per cent of MAID recipients. The most common types of cancer cited were lung, colorectal, pancreatic and hematologic.
About 450 people who received assisted death were diagnosed with the neurodegenerative condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Around 74 per cent of people who received MAID accessed palliative care first.
Health Canada also analyzed the socio-economic status of people who received assisted death, and found that “people who receive MAID do not disproportionately come from lower-income or disadvantaged communities.”
It did find that MAID recipients were less likely to live in remote locations and the report noted that may reflect challenges in accessing health services in remote parts of the country.
“Overall, the report suggests that eligible people across Canada are accessing this end-of-life option appropriately and that reports of disproportionate access by those who are disadvantaged are not supported by the data,” said Helen Long, the CEO of advocacy group Dying with Dignity.
More than 95 per cent of those who had an assisted death last year had a condition that made their deaths “reasonably foreseeable,” the report said.
Just 4.4 per cent were “track 2” MAID patients — people whose deaths were not deemed to be foreseeable but who said they were suffering intolerably.
