Mother claims Canadian euthanasia practitioner killed her mentally ill son

A mother in Canada has shared that her son, who struggled with mental illness for years, was killed through euthanasia by Ellen Wiebe.

Key Takeaways:

• Margaret Marsilla said her son, Kiano Vafaeian, had been denied euthanasia in Ontario four years ago.

• He re-applied again in Vancouver, and Ellen Wiebe, a well-known euthanasia practitioner and abortionist, euthanized him.

• Marsilla said Kiano's death was based solely on mental illness.

The Backstory:

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition called attention to Marsilla's statement, which she posted on Facebook.

The anti-euthanasia group had previously covered Vafaeian's repeated prior attempts to undergo assisted suicide; he was diagnosed with diabetes and had begun to go blind. Marsilla also stated that Vafeaeian struggled with mental illness. The situation was featured on the Rupa Subramanya Show, which caused enough backlash to force the doctor involved to back out of the planned euthanasia.

According to Subramanya, that doctor was Josh Tepper. Marsilla e-mailed him to see how easily someone could be approved for euthanasia. The Free Press reported:

The day after she discovered the email, Marsilla called Tepper. She pretended to be a MAiD applicant. She called herself Joann and said she “wanted to go through the whole process in general, from A to Zed, before the Christmas holidays—if you know what I mean.” Tepper indicated he understood.

Tepper, sounding matter of fact, ran through the list of requirements: “You have to be over 18. You have to have an OHIP card.” (He was referring to her Ontario Health Insurance Plan.) “You have to have suffering that cannot be remediated or treated in some way that’s acceptable to you.”

Marsilla, who recorded the conversation and shared the five-and-a-half-minute recording with Common Sense, told Tepper that she was diabetic and blind — more or less, her son’s condition. Tepper said he’d “had patients a lot similar to you.”

Then, the doctor said, “If you wanted, I could do a formal assessment with you.” Marsilla asked if she should come in. Tepper replied: “We do them remotely, often by video of some type: WhatsApp, Zoom, FaceTime, something like that.”

Though Marsilla was successful before in halting her son's death, once Wiebe got involved, there was no turning back. As Marsilla said, "He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not capable of making a final, irreversible decision."

The Details:

In her statement, Marsilla shared that her son was killed on December 30th, claiming that Wiebe was able to kill him due to mental illness, though this is not technically legal until 2027:

Tragically, the Canadian system later allowed something very different to happen in Vancouver — where a doctor named DR ELLEN WIEBE AKA DR DEATH #2 approved his death based on mental illness. This approval occurred despite euthanasia for mental illness being banned until 2027. Somehow, DR DEATH #2 found a loophole in the system, one that now demands to be exposed so that no other parent has to endure this.

This is disgusting on every level. And I promise I will fight this tooth and nail for my son and other parents who too have children that suffer from mental illness.

She said Vafaeian's funeral would be held on January 10, and that she would do whatever it takes to pursue "accountability" for Wiebe.

"No parent should ever have to bury their child because a system — and a doctor — chose death over care, help, or love," she said.

Zoom In:

Wiebe is infamous for her zeal for euthanasia, having killed other patients with mental illness like bipolar disorder or disabilities. She has also said she believes housing issues justify someone's choice to die, and she has had to be forcibly stopped from killing vulnerable patients.

She has also boasted of picking up a man from the airport after the man had already been denied euthanasia; Wiebe brought him to her facility and killed him. "He flew all by himself to Vancouver,” she said. “I picked him up at the airport, […] brought him to my clinic, and [euthanised him]”.

Wiebe once admitted that she doesn’t regret killing any of her patients — a number topping 400 — and calls euthanasia "the very best work I’ve ever done."

The Bottom Line:

Assisted suicide and euthanasia due solely to mental illness has been legalized in Canada, but the government has delayed this expansion until 2027. However, the Canadian government is focused on cost saving through MAiD; therefore, it seems to be looking the other way while people like Wiebe break the law.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report in 2020 stating that the Medical Aid In Dying (MAID) program has created a "net cost reduction" of $86.9 million per year for Canada's government-run health care. The report also noted that expanding the categories of people eligible for MAID would save the government an additional $62 million per year.