(LifeSiteNews) — Another Canadian woman with a non-terminal illness is drawing headlines after applying for euthanasia thanks to Canada’s increasingly liberalized laws which pro-life advocates have warned are out of control.
According to the Western Standard, Jolene Van Alstine of Saskatchewan has applied for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), not because she is terminally ill, but rather because she says she cannot get the proper surgery and healthcare treatments she needs.
Alstine has been experiencing parathyroid hyperplasia for six years, which includes symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, and pain in the abdomen.
She said that despite seeing doctors and specialists for years, it was only when she was admitted to a hospital that she saw an endocrinologist. She subsequently had two of her parathyroid glands removed, and shortly after surgery started to feel better.
However, her symptoms returned 10 days after her surgery. She tried again to see an endocrinologist but was told it could take two years until she can see one again.
Due to what her husband Miles Sundeen says is a low quality of life, Alstine has chosen to end her life via MAiD.
Canada’s increasingly permissive laws have allowed euthanasia to rise 32% since 2020, with more than 10,000 people dying in 2021 alone. Many of these 10,000 are non-terminal patients like Alstine, who cite lack of healthcare access or even poverty as major contributing factors.
While surgery backlogs are commonplace in Saskatchewan as well as the rest of Canada, Alstine’s case is a clear example of what critics of MAiD have been warning about for years.
LifeSiteNews has reported extensively in the last few weeks about MAiD, highlighting the numerous experts who are warning that Canada’s laws surrounding the practice have become a source of moral outrage.
“Unlike other countries that have legalized assisted dying, such as Belgium and the Netherlands, Canadian doctors are not compelled to find other medical or social-support options that can relieve a patient’s suffering. It can be enough for a patient to say his or her suffering is intolerable,” said Dr. Kevin Yuil.
Yuill warned that by Canada even allowing euthanasia in “cases of terminal illness,” it has opened “Pandora’s box.”
“If assisted dying is justified on the basis of ‘alleviating suffering,’ then we should expect ‘more and more categories’ of people to ‘seek recognition of their suffering by demanding assisted suicide for themselves,” Yuill noted.
Furthering concerns, Angelina Ireland, president of the pro-life Delta Hospice Society, recently told LifeSiteNews that Canada’s official rates of “state-sanctioned execution,” which are already alarming, may even be higher than what is being reported. In fact, Ireland noted that the nation’s laws have become so permissive, and euthanasia has become so widespread, a record number of people have been signing up for her organization’s “Do Not Euthanize Advance Directive (DNE)” as a way of protecting themselves from the practice.
Since 2017, Canada’s euthanasia laws have rapidly expanded, which has resulted in many people with non-terminal illnesses like Alstine turning to MAiD.
Despite massive push back, the nation’s laws are set to be further relaxed in March of next year, with those suffering solely from mental illness, and even so-called “mature minors,” soon set to be able to qualify for doctor-induced death.