So, Canada has performed more organ transplants from medically assisted in dying (MAiD) patients than any country with lax euthanasia laws..Yet the demand for organs — about 4,000 Canadians are on waiting lists — exceeds the supply from all donor sources: The Canadian Institute for Health Information reported an alarming 28% decrease in the donor rate from 2011-20. But, there aren’t enough organs to be supplied by seniors convinced they’re burdens, or from the homeless choosing MAiD to escape poverty’s despair..Which takes us into the slippery area of perverse incentives. .I would not for a moment suggest that anybody in government — not even in this MAiD-enthused Liberal government — would expand MAiD eligibility to the mentally ill but physically healthy, for no other reason than to solve the organ transplant shortage. .But people have been offered (and accepted ) MAiD for no other reason than they're broke, or can't get home care. Ethicists worry improper pressure might be brought upon the elderly by close relatives. One does not therefore require the imagination of a thriller writer to see how vulnerable a depressed person might be to those around them if they were not of sound mind, but did have a healthy set of spare parts. Do you think it could never happen?.'You could save the life of a child...'.To be blunt, are we to blindly believe all organs will be ethically harvested from the mentally ill? No..Too cynical? Not at all..Some who help the vulnerable end their lives have already shattered our trust that MAiD killings are always carried out according to ethics and rules..The Liberal government that promised safeguards when MAiD was implemented in 2016, betrayed us. Rule breakers face no consequences as the push continues to expand MAiD that has claimed 31,600 lives since 2016..The caseworker in Veterans Affairs Canada who shamelessly offered veterans unsolicited MAiD counselling no longer works there. Nope, no investigation into what went on in the department to make her figure she could get away with that. Plus, this death angel’s identity is protected..Abortionist Dr. Ellen Wiebe, who boasted about helping 400 people kill themselves, has cackled, joked, and bragged about breaking rules. She sneaked into a senior’s facility and ended the life of a resident. She bragged about ending another man’s life after overruling an assessor who deemed he didn’t qualify for euthanasia because he lacked the mental capacity to make an informed decision and suffered no serious illness. Wiebe, who aspires to have Canada reach a 4%-5% quota of all deaths via MAiD, merrily carries on performing euthanasia between abortions at her clinic..There are others who should be hauled before a judge or an inquiry to explain their hand in MAiD. They won’t be..And we’re supposed to have faith the mentally ill will be protected?.Donating organs to give another human being a chance to live is a noble and beautiful thing. But the danger of organs being harvested from mentally ill patients written off by psychiatrists is real..It's also immoral — if not criminal — but more to the point, organs are already being harvested from MAiD victims. Presumably not from mentally ill victims, as that's presently not supposed to be legal..Yet, CTV News recently reported an international study found in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain, a combined 286 euthanasia deaths up to 2021 had provided organs for transplants to 837 other patients..Canadian doctors performed almost half the transplants..Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba, told CTV he’s proud of Canada’s contribution from MAiD deaths..“So, I say, ‘Good on us.’ It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone facing death to make something significant out of the end of their life,” said Schafer.. Garnet Genuis MPGarnet Genuis MP .And therein lies that problem of perverse incentives..Advocates righteously proclaim providing MAiD to the mentally ill is about compassion..But some fear organ donations may be promoted as a means of giving purpose to lives dismissed as hopeless..“Can we be sure organs taken from Canadians who have been, or are about to be, euthanized have been ethically obtained?” asked Nichole Scheidl, executive director of Canadian Physicians for Life..As MAiD criteria becomes less robust, there’s more room for deceit, even coercion..“There’s more opportunity for abuse. Abuse will happen. We can’t be naive. Those sorts of things will occur.”.“What is to prevent patients from facing subtle, or not so subtle, pressure to request euthanasia in a more timely fashion while their organs are in better condition?”.“There will be too much incentive to facilitate death prematurely in order to transfer organs to younger, healthier, and perhaps even healthier patients.”.“We’re starting to get into murky territory because as euthanasia expands in Canada, we’re already seeing stories of people who feel coerced, who feel like they’re backed into corners, who feel they have no choice. Then how is that going to impact the way our organ donor system is viewed?”.Scheidl raised the possibility the prevalence of euthanasia will “drastically undermine” the willingness of Canadians to donate organs..“People will be reluctant to become organ donors because they don’t know how they’ll be treated at the end of life. They’ll just be seen as a good organ rather than a person who needs to be cared for.”.Organs donated from MAiD deaths could “undermine” recipients..“You have trust if you’re an organ recipient, the organ hasn’t been coerced out of somebody. Then there’s the guilt associated with that. It’s not going to make for a healthy system.”.“The individual who needs the transplant is vulnerable. The individual who’s at the end of life is vulnerable. That’s why it’s so important that we treat these vulnerabilities with exquisite care. You cannot run roughshod over somebody for what you consider a greater good because in the end you will undermine the whole system and it will collapse.”.In December 2022, MP Garnett Genuis (Conservative, Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan) led the effort to pass Bill S-223 — the Trafficking in Human Organs Act — into law..Bill S-223 makes it a criminal offence to travel abroad and receive an organ taken from someone who may have been killed, exploited, or coerced..“The same would apply here if someone was coerced or inappropriately intimidated into giving up their organ such that it wasn’t proper consent.”.Genuis supports voluntary organ donation..“I think voluntary organ donation is a wonderful thing. That voluntary piece is critical. That means the complete absence of pressure or coercion.”.But, he’s concerned about the Liberal government’s approach to MAiD..“As it relates to those struggling with mental health challenges our focus should be on promoting recovery and sending a clear message that we want to help people overcome those challenges and recover rather than supposing that death is an option.”. Nichole ScheidlDr. Nichole Scheidl .“Rather than constantly looking for further expansion, the focus of the government should be on recognizing and responding to the significant abuses we are already seeing.”.Responding to public pressure, the Liberals indefinitely extended the March deadline to expand MAiD, but vowed to carry through with no attempt to improve safeguards..“One of the problems with the regime as it’s been set up is that any two doctors can provide the necessary verification. There’s no requirement for the attending physician or somebody with particular expertise in the patient’s ailment to be weighing in those cases,” said Genuis..“So, you do see a situation I think where a very small number of doctors with a particular interpretation of the criteria can approve a large number of cases even if most doctors would have a different view in those cases.”.The Conservatives proposed amendments including the patient having to be the one to raise the issue of MAiD..“Yet those amendments were not supported by the House despite our efforts.”.Conservatives oppose expanding MAiD to include those with mental health challenges but are in the minority..“So, it is a done deal? No. But given the configuration of the House of Commons right now it’s an uphill battle.”
