A report submitted to the Parliament of Canada applauds the healthcare cost savings that has resulted from the country’s legalization of assisted suicide. The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) report‘s goal was to provide “greater budget transparency and accountability” on the issue, but it presented people’s deaths in a positive light.
The report was requested by a senator in response to a bill under consideration that would broaden eligibility for assisted suicide. Bill C-7 would allow people to be euthanized even if their death is not expected in “the relative near term.” The goal of the PBO report was to provide “cost estimates” on the bill to help legislators decide if assisted suicide should be easier for Canadians to obtain, while acknowledging the high cost of health care for people who are dying.
“Many studies have shown that health care costs in the last year of life (and especially in the last month of life) are disproportionately high, representing between 10% and 20% of total health care costs despite these patients representing about 1% of the population,” the report reads, immediately adding, “Nevertheless, this report should in no way be interpreted as suggesting that MAID be used to reduce health care costs.”
Despite this statement, the report concluded that assisted suicide represents “a net reduction in cost of $86.9 million” for the government, adding, “expanding access to MAID will result in a net reduction in health care costs for the provincial governments.” (emphasis added)
READ: Canada is euthanizing people for loneliness and emotional distress
One of the factors investigators considered was the COVID-19 pandemic, which could increase the number of people dying from cancer. “[A] recent study from the United Kingdom predicts that the number of deaths from cancer will increase because of the pandemic,” the report explained. “Their data shows there has been a reduction of 45-66% in admissions for chemotherapy and a 70-89% fall in urgent referrals for early cancer diagnosis. These results might come from a reduction in resources (which are redirected to care for infected patients) or patients deciding not to seek care due to perceived risk of Covid-19 infection. In either case, it is likely to have an impact on cancer patient survival. Some patients that could have otherwise survived cancer might find themselves in unbearable pain near the end of their life and request MAID.”
According to Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, there have been 19,000 people killed since Canada legalized assisted suicide. The government has also begun pressuring medical schools to teach euthanasia and is already euthanizing people for loneliness and emotional distress, while Catholic hospitals are being forced to participate, despite conscientious objections. Even more controversially, Canada has begun pairing organ harvesting with euthanasia.
The United Nations has been sounding the alarm about how the rights of people with disabilities are regularly being violated in Canada, which is disturbing in this context, considering that people are pressured into euthanasia instead of receiving legitimate health care. If someone is seen as a burden on the government health care system, it is unsurprising that a government-run health care system would pressure these people to choose to die — especially if killing sick and disabled humans saves the government money.
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