Euthanasia rates increase in Quebec, where the rate is highest in the world

The latest report from Quebec, the first province in Canada to legalize euthanasia, found that euthanasia deaths have increased — and, for the second year in a row, Quebec has the highest euthanasia rate in the world.

CBC News reported that government data from the Commission on End-of-Life Care revealed that 5,686 people underwent Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) in 2023. This is a 17% increase from 2022, when 5.1% of all deaths were due to MAID. In 2023, that figure rose to 7.3% of all deaths. That rate — 7.3% — is the highest in the world.

The president of the commission, Michel Bureau, said he cannot explain why the rate is so much higher in Quebec than in countries with similarly-liberal euthanasia laws, like the Netherlands or Belgium. “We have no sociological explanation, apart from the aging of the population,” he said.

READ: Disability groups alarmed as Quebec physicians group calls for infant euthanasia

Dr. David Lussier, a geriatrician at the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal, told CBC News that he believes these numbers should not be looked at in a negative manner, but he still had concerns… and insinuated that some elderly people may be choosing MAID simply to avoid being in a nursing home. In Quebec, these are known as long-term care centers (CHLSD).

“As a geriatrician, the fear of being in CHLSD, I hear it a lot and so it concerns me,” he said. “It’s sad, but I don’t see it as a failure. What people don’t want is to be in this state of dependence and severe loss of autonomy.”

This is something backed by previous data, which has found that the majority of people who opt for assisted suicide or euthanasia do so over fear of losing autonomy, and not being able to enjoy the same activities as before. Other studies have found that people also worry that they will become a burden on their loved ones.

In August of 2023, the Commission on End-of-life Care admitted that some euthanasia deaths don’t comply with the law, though euthanasia has continued to expand.

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