A Canadian court has temporarily blocked a 27-year-old autistic woman’s scheduled euthanasia death. People engaged in the case are dubbed MV and WV since they cannot be named publicly.
After her father successfully challenged a previous court’s decision to let the lady go forward with her suicide attempt despite his misgivings, the judge ultimately sided with him. The teen is autistic but not terminally ill. MV is still living at home with her parents.
The woman from Calgary has been granted a stay of the injunction by Justice Anne Kirker, who will consider her appeal. A member of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition’s executive staff, Alex Schadenberg, has taken up the cause. Because of his connection to autism (his son is autistic), Schadenberg voiced profound worry about this situation. Schadenberg said that the father’s profound love and dedication to justice are the driving forces behind his doubts about his daughter’s death.
The trial is expected to commence in October. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition plans to participate in the Appeal.
The injunction was overturned by Justice Colin C.J. Feasby of the Alberta Court of King’s Bench on March 25. She was previously unable to use Canada’s MAiD euthanasia program due to the injunction.
It has been determined that MV suffers from both autism and ADHD. She received MAiD approval from two physicians.
Fearing for his daughter’s safety, MV’s father questioned his daughter’s decision-making abilities about suicide.
The federal government, headed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, delayed the extension of MAiD to those with mental illness until 2027 in February in response to objections from several organizations and provinces.
Since 2016, the number of deaths in Canada caused by lethal injection has been alarmingly high, approaching 45,000. There is apprehension that the actual figure may be much higher due to questions over the integrity of the official statistics.
The fact that euthanasia is not included in Statistics Canada’s death tolls has now come to light, even though it is the sixth leading cause of death in the country.
