State-sanctioned murder, euphemistically called “medical assistance in dying,” has quickly become one of the leading causes of death in Canada, according to a new study by the Canadian think tank Cardus.
Their report noted that MAiD deaths have increased thirteenfold in the short time since it was legalized in 2016 (growing from 1,018 deaths then to 13,241 now). That makes it the fifth leading cause of death in the country, and the “world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program.”
Only 3.5 percent of requests for assisted killing are denied, and that number continues to decrease. The study also noted that “MAiD request can be assessed and provided in a single day.”
When doctor-assisted murder was first decriminalized, the courts stressed that it had to be “stringently limited” and “carefully monitored.” But those who argued against euthanasia explained that limits would be impossible to maintain once “my body, my choice” is regarded as a sufficient moral justification for murder. If that justifies the assisted killing of someone sick, why wouldn’t it also justify the killing of someone who is healthy?
But murder and suicide are wrong precisely because it isn’t our body, so it isn’t our choice. As God notes in Gen. 9:6 the reason murder is wrong is because He made us in His very Image. In a world where the law doesn’t testify to the gift of life like it used to, the Church has all the more calling to share this positive and life-affirming message through our words and, more importantly, through our deeds. We are surrounded by so many neighbors whose hopes are quickly diminishing as their bodies age or they face sickness. May we seize every opportunity to show them the Gospel of Life, which gives hope in this life and the next.
