Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths
www.bbc.com
For the first time, the annual report delved into race and ethnic data of those who underwent assisted dying.

Summary

Euthanasia accounted for 4.7% of deaths in Canada in 2023, with 15,300 people opting for assisted dying—a 16% increase, though slower than prior years.

Most recipients had terminal illnesses, primarily cancer, and 96% were white, sparking questions about disparities.

Quebec, at 37% of cases, remains Canada’s euthanasia hotspot.

Since legalizing assisted dying in 2016, Canada has expanded access, now covering chronic conditions and planning to include mental illnesses by 2027.

Critics, citing rapid growth and controversial cases, warn of insufficient safeguards, while proponents highlight strict eligibility criteria. Debate continues globally.

  • n2burns@lemmy.ca
    2·
    10 days ago
    > And what do companies have to do with it?

    We live in capitalist countries. Anything and everything will have money involved. Even public healthcare involves money changing hands with private contractors and such. There is no way to get around this fact. And wherever money changes hands it creates the potential for perverse incentives that we are possibly opening the door wide open for.

    It’s not like these perverse incentives don’t exist without MAID. Nursing Homes, etc. have an incentive to keep people alive and in their care as long as possible.

    • kava@lemmy.world
      1·
      10 days ago

      It’s not like these perverse incentives don’t exist without MAID

      sure but it doesn’t take too much imagination to come up with some dystopian futures where human life is not treated with the sanctity that we are used to

      i think maybe that’s my key objection here. it uncorks this wine bottle that cannot be resealed. we are forever fundamentally changing our relationship with death and destigmatizing the act of snuffing out a life.

      i think it’s something most people have not really put much thought into the long term implications of this ideological shift