By Deacon Mike Manno
(The Wanderer) -- Our friend Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Canadian-based Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has reported some alarming results from his country’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) law.
In its newly released report for 2021, Health Canada
reported more than 10,064 medically assisted deaths up from 7,603 the year
before. The 2021 figure represented 3.3 percent of all deaths that year. Of
those “at least 1,740 people died by euthanasia for loneliness and isolation,”
it reported.
“Many people with significant medical conditions also live
with loneliness and isolation. Social isolation and loneliness require a
compassionate caring community, not death by lethal injection,” Schadenberg
said.
One statistic he noted in the report was that only four
percent of written requests for MAiD were denied as ineligible, a surprise
since the same figures for the Netherlands and Belgium, countries well-known
for extremely liberal euthanasia, had a much higher rejection rate.
Citing inadequate pain control as well as concern about the
ability to continue controlling pain were raised for 57.6 percent of the
requests for euthanasia, and yet the report states that 80.7 percent of the
people who requested euthanasia were “receiving palliative care.” Being
enrolled in palliative care and receiving palliative care are different, he
said, urging officials that more study is needed to be done to determine how
many people who died by euthanasia were actually receiving some kind of
palliative care.
The data from the report is gathered from the reports
submitted by the medical or nurse practitioners who carried out the euthanasia
death. There is no requirement that a third party or neutral person submit the
report to ensure their accuracy, Schadenberg said.
“When all data sources are considered, the total number of
euthanasia (MAiD) reported assisted deaths in Canada from [date of]
legalization to December 31, 2021 is 31,664,” Schadenberg reported.
Additionally, he said, “The report indicated that due to the passing of Bill
C-7 in March 2021, 2.2 percent of the assisted deaths were people whose natural
death was not reasonably foreseeable.”
Schadenberg noted that was the first Health Canada MAiD
report since the Canadian government adopted Bill C-7 which made several
changes in the MAiD law which expanded eligibility for euthanasia, such as:
It removed the requirement that a person’s natural death be
reasonably foreseeable. Therefore, people who are not terminally ill could now
die by euthanasia.
It permitted a doctor or nurse practitioner to lethally
inject a person who is incapable of consenting, if that person had previously
been approved for assisted death. Thus, incompetent people could now be
euthanatized.
It also waived the ten-day waiting period if a person’s
natural death is deemed to be reasonably foreseeable. Thus, a person could
request euthanasia and be euthanized the same day.
The bill also approved euthanasia for patients requesting
same when their only complaint was mental illness, but delayed its
implementation for two years to give health officials the ability for the
development of procedural guidelines for “mental illness alone” cases.
The report also noted the main reasons for requesting
euthanasia were: “the loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities (86.3
percent), loss of ability to perform activities of daily living (83.4 percent),
and inadequate control of pain or concerns about controlling pain (57.6
percent).”
He further commented, “Sadly, Canada has quickly become the
most permissive euthanasia regime in the world. Further to that, a Canadian
government committee is examining expanding the law to include euthanasia for
children, ‘mature minors,’ and euthanasia for incompetent people. Recent
stories indicate that Canadians are now dying by euthanasia for reasons of
poverty, disability, and mental illness.”
Religious
Values And Transgenderism
As we might expect, a Pew Research Center survey has
concluded that religious views are predictive of public views on what should be
public policy involving transgenderism, including in the area of women’s
athletics. Not surprisingly the views of those professing religious beliefs are
substantially different than those with no religious beliefs, the so-called
“nones.”
According to the July survey, 87 percent of those
identifying as white evangelicals, 75 percent of Protestants overall —
including 70 percent of black Protestants — and 62 percent of Catholics believe
that a person’s sexual identity is set at birth. All of those figures are up
from similar surveys conducted in 2017 and 2021.
On the other hand, respectively, only 24 percent, 32
percent, and 49 percent of atheists, agnostics, and no religion feel the same
way with 78 percent, 67 percent, and 51 percent believing that sex is not
determined by birth.
Interestingly, a full 32 percent of Catholics but only 13
percent of white evangelicals believe sex is not determined at birth. The
overall for all U.S. adults the breakdown is that 60 percent believe sex is
determined at birth, up from 54 percent in 2017 while now 38 percent disagree,
down from 44 percent in 2017.
These percentages were somewhat reflective of the attitudes
concerning whether or not society has become too accepting of transgender
persons. Controversies swirl throughout the public on these issues, especially
concerning trans athletes competing in their non-biological sex categories,
thus, according to many, giving an unfair advantage to biological men who
identify as girls or women over their female competitors; and most heatedly
involving school curriculum, especially for younger students in the earlier
grades.
Have we become too accepting? Yes said 32 percent in 2017,
not too far 39 percent, and just about right 27 percent. There have been
changes for 2022, respectively 38 percent, 36 percent, and 23 percent, perhaps
as a result of the increased publicity of the issues connected with
transgenderism.
Again white evangelicals stood out as the most substantial
of the “gone too far” group, moving from 61 percent in 2017 to 68 percent now.
Catholics went from 27 percent to 37 percent and Protestants went from 44
percent in 2017 to 50 percent today.
The unchurched, atheists, and agnostics were most accepting
of the status of transgenderism with the overwhelming majority saying that
society has not gone far enough in accepting them; atheists at 71 percent and
agnostics at 65 percent.
Religious beliefs have played an influential but not
overwhelming part in the public’s response to transgenderism. Overall, 41 percent
said their religious beliefs have, at least somewhat, affected their view of
questions over transgenderism. Fifty percent claim their religion has not
affected their belief at all; for 58 percent of Protestants their religious
beliefs were a factor, which rose to 70 percent for white evangelicals and to
45 percent for black Protestants.
Forty-two percent of Catholics cited their religious views
as a factor in their beliefs, while 45 percent claimed their religious beliefs
had no influence on their views.
In each category, the survey measured the percentage of
respondents that said the government should add additional gender
identification options other than “male” or “female.” Overall of those
expressing a religious sentiment only 38 percent said yes as did 38 percent of
Protestants, 17 percent of white evangelicals, 43 percent of black Protestants,
and 35 percent of Catholics. Atheists’ approval rating was 70 percent,
agnostics 60 percent, and “nothing in particular” was 45 percent.
Not surprisingly, the survey did find a correlation between
transgender acceptances between the political parties with Republicans reacting
more negatively than the Democrats who have been staunch supporters of
transsexual rights.
So much for following the science.
(You can reach Mike at: DeaconMike@q.com and listen to him
every Thursday at 9:30 CT on Faith On Trial at IowaCatholicRadio.com.)
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