Canadian Survey Reveals Deep Disrespect For Poor, Mentally Ill
Written by Teddy on June 20, 2023
A recent survey from America’s neighbor to the north demonstrates how quickly a nation can grow comfortable with disrespect for human lives—especially the lives of impoverished individuals and persons with mental illnesses.
Canada legalized assisted suicide for adults with serious medical conditions in 2016. A survey released by Research Co. in May 2023 shows that many, many Canadians support expanding assisted suicide to populations much larger than the group that is currently allowed to access it. According to the Daily Wire, 28% of respondents agreed that assisted suicide should be legal for homeless persons. Furthermore, 27% stated that it should be legal for very poor persons to receive assisted suicide. Twenty-four percent believed that parents should not be punished for helping their children access assisted suicide, while another 25% were uncertain. A staggering 43% of respondents agreed that mentally ill individuals should be able to undergo assisted suicide. (Sadly, with regard to the mentally ill, the Canadian government agrees; beginning next year, mentally ill persons will become eligible for assisted suicide.)
As the Daily Wire noted, “critics of [assisted suicide] argue that governments with socialized medical systems have clear incentives to promote the practice rather than funding treatment for certain patients, thereby overlooking the innate value of human beings and their fundamental right to life.”
What should these survey results tell New Yorkers? At a minimum, they should cause us to ask questions. If assisted suicide is legalized for terminally ill persons here, will New Yorkers become desensitized to the practice like many of the Canadians who responded to last month’s survey? Will there be pressure to expand access to assisted suicide to other populations? The mentally ill? The poor? The disabled? If socialized medicine is legalized at the state level or the federal level, will government promote assisted suicide as a cost-saving measure? Will the elderly and the infirm come to believe that they have a duty to die?
All New Yorkers should find these questions disturbing. The only way to avoid them is to prevent assisted suicide from becoming law in the first place.
