Euthanasia remains one of the leading causes of death in Canada. The latest government figures show another increase in the number of Canadians choosing to end their lives under the national suicide law.
He Fifth Annual Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) Report Health Canada, released Wednesday, reveals that MAID accounted for nearly 1 in 20 deaths in the country in 2023.
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Government statistics indicate that in 2023, a total of 15,343 people died from euthanasia, carried out by medical officials in Canada, out of a total of just under 20,000 requests.
These figures represent “an increase of 15.8%” compared to 2022, according to the report, which is a drop from an average annual growth rate of around 31%.
Although the growth rate decreased, “it is not yet possible to draw reliable conclusions about whether or not these findings represent a stabilization of growth rates in the long term,” the report states.
“Increased awareness of MAID within the continuum of care, aging of the population and associated disease patterns, personal beliefs and social acceptance, as well as the availability of professionals who provide MAID, may influence the rate of provision of services,” highlights the document.
The “vast majority” of euthanasia incidents detailed in the most recent report, about 95%, were administered to individuals classified as “Track 1,” whose natural death is “reasonably foreseeable” due to a medical condition.
More than half of those people were over 75 years old, and cancer was the “most frequently reported underlying medical condition.”
The most common underlying medical conditions affecting the remaining victims under “Class 2” included neurological conditions, as well as other medical problems such as diabetes, “frailty” and chronic pain.
Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland said in the report that he was “pleased” to release the data, which he said provides “a complete picture of the provision of medical assistance in dying” in the country.
Holland noted that the Canadian federal government has recently started a “national conversation” to consider “advance applications for MAID.”
The Quebec government recently began to allow euthanasia for people who cannot give consent at the time of the procedure, allowing “advance requests” for people suffering from conditions such as Alzheimer’s.
Tens of thousands of Canadians have died from euthanasias performed by medical officials since the program became legal.
This year’s report notes that government data indicates “44,958 MAID provisions from legalization in 2016 to 2022,” which, with the latest data, “brings the total number of MAID provisions in Canada to 60,301.”
Some observers have recently expressed concern that regulators are not effectively monitoring the country’s euthanasia program.
A surprising report published in November claimed that of the hundreds of violations of the country’s controversial euthanasia law over several years, None of them had been reported to the authorities..
Meanwhile, activists are pushing for the government to expand the law to include people with mental illness.
The government recently considered expanding it, although earlier this year suspended the measure to allow the country’s healthcare system “more time” to prepare.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Prensa team. Originally published in CNA
Daniel Payne
Daniel Payne is senior editor at Catholic News Agency. He previously worked at College Fix and Just the News. He lives in Virginia with his family.