Quadriplegic Canadian mom can’t get needed disability support, but she can get euthanasia

A mom eligible for euthanasia due to quadriplegia has applied for it in Ontario. But while access to medical assistance in dying is easily attainable for her, she said she struggles to receive the disability supports needed in order for her to live.

Rose Finlay’s story went viral on TikTok, but she is speaking out more with Canadian media to further explain her desperation. “I am a 33-year-old quadriplegic single mom raising two kids with disabilities,” she said on social media. “Every Ontarian that is paying taxes and paying into social programs thinking that one day should they ever need the supports they would be available to them, I’m here to let you know that’s not actually the case.”

She told the Global News that, after suffering a spinal cord accident as a teenager, she is able to be self-sufficient, but still needs support on occasion. “My life as it is, without support as a quadriplegic is far more deadly than me even exploring the MAID process,” she said. “Not having support for the last year has made it so that I’m getting sick more often and I think it’s just better to have it as an option, have MAID as an option, should I get really, really sick.”

A report earlier this year found a 27% increase in Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) deaths in Ontario alone in 2022. Overall, Canada is the world leader in euthanasia for prisoners, while doctors have also said they are pressured by the Canadian government to euthanize their patients as a way to save money.

In Finlay’s TikTok video, she also pointed out that it is much easier to be euthanized than it is to get support to help her live.

“The fact that it takes six to eight months to receive disability support and only 91 days to receive medical assistance in dying based on the fact that I have a permanent disability and decreased quality of life but my quality of life is decreased based on the level of support that I receive,” she said.

In an article from the National Post, other social media posts from Finlay were spotlighted, in which she said while she doesn’t want to die, the government has “created the perfect storm for disabled people here in Ontario.”

She added, “Starve them, cut them off from participating in society and then offer them death.”

Finlay also urged other people to fight with her against these ableist policies. “Many people turn a blind eye when it comes to disability issues … the average Canadian spends 8 to 11 years of their life with one or more disability and so while this may not be their fight today, it’s not a fight that you want to have to fight when you are in a position of need,” she said. “Disabled people need able bodied allies amplifying their voices and fighting this fight alongside them.”