Heather Hancock suffers from cerebral palsy, a condition that has afflicted her since birth. The 56-year-old Canadian contends with debilitating muscle spasms which go from her toes through her back and can cause temporary paralysis.
Hancock, a devout Christian who recently published a faith-based novel, “Sister Lost,” told The Post she has a lot to live for.
But there are some healthcare professionals in her country who have suggested something else — Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program, which facilitates voluntary euthanasia conducted by physicians.
Recalling a rough morning while being treated at a hospital in Alberta, Canada, Hancock told The Post, “I wasn’t moving very well and the nurse on my ward looked at me and said, ‘You really should consider MAID. You’re not living. You’re just existing.’ “
Hancock remembers being in shock over what she interpreted as a suggestion she should opt for death, rather than wasting Canada’s publicly funded healthcare system by staying alive.
“I thought I misheard her; then the words settled into my being as she waited for an answer,” said Hancock. “I asked her, ‘Who gives you the right to judge what’s living and what’s existing?’”
According to Hancock, the nurse responded, “Now you’re just being selfish.”
A representative of the hospital which was treating Hancock did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
“God put me into this world and he’s the only one taking me out,” Hancock added, “I told the nurse that my life is no less valuable than any other life.
“She just laughed in a mocking way and walked out of the room. I had that nurse removed from my care. I did not want to be anywhere near her.”
The nurse’s attitude is consistent with others Hancock says she has encountered.
“We require more healthcare dollars than able-bodied people and often do not get the same level of service; some doctors don’t even bother trying,” said Hancock, explaining that MAID frequently gets presented as “a good solution to your situation.”
“They make you feel like you are less than human … like you have nothing to offer the world. Doctors couch it as ending people’s suffering when really they are killing you,” she added.
While experiences for Hancock and others have been unsettling, MAID was instituted with the best of intentions. In 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that physicians should not be prohibited from assisting in the consensual death of another person.
One year later, rules were put into place for MAID: patients must be 18 or older, they must have a grievous and impossible to cure medical condition, the request for dying must be made voluntarily and the patients must not have a mental illness as the underlying medical condition.
In 2021, MAID requirements were adjusted to make it available to people with conditions that are considered “serious and incurable.”
Additionally, legislation was raised that would permit MAID for those suffering from mental illness. In February, however, it was decided that change would not be initiated until 2027 because “the system is not ready.”
Opinions on MAID are intensely split. Last year, Canada’s conservative MP Ed Fast told CBC, “It is deeply concerning that this government appears to be moving from a culture of life to a culture of death.”
On the other hand, Dr. Stephanie Green, who provides medical assistance in dying and authored the book “This is Assisted Dying,” makes the point it does not happen in a speedy or callous manner.
Speaking with Vancouver magazine, Green recalled MAID patients who “were expressing gratitude and relief,” from being able to make the choice.
Helen Long, the CEO of Dying with Dignity Canada, an organization that is pro MAID, pointed out to The Post the average age of patients undergoing doctor assisted death in Canada is 77 and that, at 66%, cancer is the most citied underlying medical condition.
“We believe MAID legislation in Canada ensures an eligible person, who chooses to, can maintain their autonomy and access an assisted death, ending their suffering, in line with their personal values,” Long told The Post.
“Numbers suggest there is increasing awareness of this end-of-life option in Canada and those who are found eligible and choose MAID want control at their end of life and are avoiding unwanted suffering.”
Nevertheless, Hancock is far from alone in recalling having been presented with a nervy life or death choice.
In 2022, there were 13,241 people who chose medically assisted death, a spike by 30% compared to 2021.
Last year 15,280 Canadians opted for the MAID program to end their lives.
Opponents of MAID claim that those who advocate for the doctor-assisted suicide can be heavy handed to a damaging degree when suggesting it as an option.
“When you’re going through a difficult time and someone is telling you, ‘Oh, if I was in your situation, I would opt for MAID,’ well, that is not a helpful thing,” Alex Schadenberg, executive director of Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told The Post.
“Nearly every major hospital in Canada has a MAID team. These teams are each comprised of a couple doctors and a couple nurses who go throughout the hospital, making sure MAID is offered and available to people who want it. But they’re not just providing access to euthanasia, they are selling it.”
Green clarified to Vancouver magazine, “Two different clinicians need independently to agree that [a patient meets the] conditions [to qualify for MAID].”
Asked for a recent example of the hard-sell, Schadenberg recalled a situation in Ottawa: “I received a call from a man who was visiting his father there. The MAID team came in, asked the father, who was suffering from a deadly condition, if he would like MAID. The dad said no.”
But that was not the end of it. “When the family members went downstairs for coffees, the MAID team came back and asked the patient again. They thought he was saying no only because the family members were there.
“It’s not a point of suggestion when you continually harass people with this concept of MAID. The family was ticked off.”
In another case, a Canadian man by the name of Roger Foley — who suffers from cerebellar ataxia, a disease that attacks the brain and muscles — maintains he had financial strong-arming applied to him too.
The 49-year-old from Ottowa believes it was an effort to get him to accept death over a life that is complicated to maintain.
“I’ve been pressured to do an assisted suicide,” he had told The Post, alleging this happened with caretakers at Victoria Hospital, a primarily government-funded facility in London, Ontario.
“They asked if I wanted an assisted death. I don’t. I was told that I would be charged $1,800 per day [for hospital care]. Nurses here told me that I should end my life. That shocked me.”
That conversation took place two years ago, at which point Foley was $2m in debt. According to Schadenberg, “His current situation is unchanged.”
He added: “They told him he could have euthanasia or leave the hospital. He stayed and it is over $650,00 per year.
“He has been in the hospital for eight years. He had no choice but to stay, He needs 24/7 care to live.”
Reached for comment, David Musyj, Interim President & CEO of London Health Sciences Centre, which operates Victoria Hospital, would not comment “due to patient confidentiality and ongoing legal proceedings.”
In a recent video, conducted by Amanda Achtman of the Dying to Meet You Project, Foley recalled being offered euthanasia “multiple times.”
In terms of the impact of the suggestion, he said, “It’s completely traumatized me. It’s an overlying option. When I say I am suicidal, I am met with, ‘Well, the hospital has a program to help you with that if you want to end your life.’
“There is not going to be a second within the rest of my life when I will not have flashbacks to it, to the devaluing of me and all that I am … I don’t want to give up my life.”
