Canadian woman cites lack of medical aid as reason to apply for assisted suicide

12/15/2022 / By Ramon Tomey

A Canadian woman cited lack of medical assistance as her reason for choosing assisted suicide. She pointed to the long waiting time for surgeries as a major reason for her choice to undergo euthanasia.

The woman in question was Jolene Van Alstine, a resident of Canada’s Saskatchewan province. According to the Western Standard, she has been experiencing parathyroid hyperplasia for six years. Symptoms of parathyroid hyperplasia include vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. It is not a terminal illness.

Despite seeing doctors and specialists for almost four years, Alstine only saw an endocrinologist when she was hospitalized in 2020. She subsequently had two of her parathyroid glands removed, and started to feel better after the surgery. Her symptoms returned 10 days after the surgery, however.

Alstine tried to see an endocrinologist once more, but was told it could take two years until she can see one. Because of this, she suffers from a low quality of life and seldom leaves their home.

“It’s horrific,” her husband Miles Sundeen told the Standard. “It’s not a life anymore.”

Given this, Alstine has chosen to end her live via medical assistance in dying, releasing her medical records and applying for the process.

Her case is reminiscent of a 51-year-old woman from Ontario province named “Sophia”, who also opted for MAiD after failing to find a suitable home for herself. Sophia suffers from multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS), which makes her search for a suitable living space a Herculean task. (Related: OFFING THE POOR: Canadian man facing homelessness applies for medically assisted death.)

According to CTV News, Sophia’s two-year search for “affordable housing free of cigarette smoke and chemical cleaners” ended in failure. She left behind letters to local, provincial and federal officials for assistance in finding a home away from the smoke and chemicals wafting through her apartment, which was operated by the Salvation Army of Canada.

Experts sound alarm against Canada’s liberal euthanasia laws

Dr. Kevin Yuill of the University of Sunderland warned that Canada has opened a Pandora’s box by allowing euthanasia in “cases of terminal illness.”

“Canadian doctors are not compelled to find other medical or social support options that can relieve a patient’s suffering,” he said. “It can be enough for a patient to say [their] suffering is terrible.”

“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.”

Toronto physician Dr. Riina Bray – who treats patients with MCS and other environmental sensitivities – pointed out that in the case of Sophia, “an easy fix” that did not need MAiD was available.

“She just needed to be helped to find a suitable place to live, where there wasn’t smoke wafting through the vents,” Bray told CTV News. “If people have to go and kill themselves, that would be a very pathetic thing and it will be heard by the rest of the world because it’s not acceptable.

Rohini Peris, president of the Environmental Health Association of Quebec, had been in touch with Sofia prior to her assisted suicide. “It’s not that she didn’t want to live. She couldn’t live that way,” Peris said. “I’m terrified. I don’t believe this is the answer.”

“I find it unbelievable that that happened.” said Dr. Claudia Miller, a professor emerita at the University of Texas. “It’s a sad statement. People are so desperate they do want to die. I think that’s completely an indication of a huge failure – a societal failure. It’s such a bad statement about not just [the] Canadian government, but any government that allows it to occur.”

Head over to Euthanasia.news for more stories about Canada’s liberal assisted suicide laws.

Watch this video that discusses Canada supporting assisted suicide for poverty.

This video is from the Midwest Information Network channel on Brighteon.com.