Still here

Hello blog readers.

This blog is still here. I am still here. The LWD website is still here. But LWD as a national non-profit organization has passed into non-profit corporate history.

I never thought it would be easy trying to start a national non-profit. I knew that trying to be an ally, amplifying the voices of people with disabilities who want to fight against “assisted suicide” would be an exercise in swimming against the tide, as the practice became wide-spread and normalized in Canada. Trying to tap into a well of support from people who could understand why people with disabilities really don’t want this “special gift” from the medical profession and the government of Canada was going to take some time — but I was convinced that “well of support” was out there.

Maybe it is out there, and maybe someone more experienced or more connected than I am can try again to organize on a large scale to counter the juggernaut that is DWD, an organization that has gone from temporarily losing its charitable status in 2015 (Charitable status? Poof! It was just getting in the way, as the rules were written back then.) As they said at the time, losing charitable status freed them up to lobby the hell out of senators, members of parliament, medical regulators and associations, as well as the general public. They did that lobbying, and they won. Now many of the influential class pushing to expand the rules around assisted suicide are people who have served on their board and who still serve on their board. (Charitable status was restored, of course, as soon as the government changed hands. Since then, DWD has received some very large tax-protected million-dollar donations.)

And why have they been so successful? Because people want to control how they’re going to die. They just do. And once the Supreme Court said they could have this, people did not want to hear anything at all that might interfere with their very personal choice, freedom and power. They want to say when, where, how and why. And all they have to do is convince a doctor or nurse practitioner that their life is intolerable, that it’s effectively over and they want to end it now. Technically, they have to have some kind of disease that’s going to end their lives sometime soonish (UNLESS they just have a disability that they don’t want to live with anymore). They still, as of right now, need to be able to give informed consent at the last moment before the needle goes under the skin, although the lobby for “advanced requests” is strong and pretty much guaranteed to win, now that Quebec has legalized the practice, despite the pesky federal criminal code which still calls it homicide — to euthanize someone who is unable to consent. They don’t have to try treatments they don’t want; they don’t have to inform family members of their intention; they don’t have to talk to an advisor or a spiritual guide of any kind. Do they have to write a will, or make sure dependent humans or pets are provided for? I have no idea! Can they do it against the will of someone who loves them dearly? Absolutely they can, it’s their “constitutional right”! Or is it? The courts will have to weigh in on this as important challenges move forward.

20% of Canadians are choosing to die by doctor as of the latest report (2023). Clearly there was a pent-up demand, and the medical profession has been released from the yoke of Hippocrates in order to meet that demand. Many of them are happy about this new freedom, although most still do not participate in so-called MAiD practice. But they can find each other — the willing life-enders and the folks who are eager to end their lives before their natural clock ticks its last tick.

Dying a long death is not currently fashionable in Canada. Not that it was ever fashionable, of course — I anticipate the critique. But it used to be that a person who received a terminal diagnosis, whether of cancer or some other dire condition, would have a month or two to “get their affairs in order”, then with any luck, a period of slowing down, a time of recollection with family members, a time of resolving some old conflicts, jealousies, infidelities, regrets, a time for letting go of unimportant things, a time to cherish and appreciate things and people that bring joy and satisfaction. It allowed for people to be cared for, to learn to accept care, and to give others the opportunity to care for them. A good death allowed for these things — for the time they take and the needs they address.

It’s inefficient though. Need I say more?

Please note that 80% of Canadians are still NOT choosing to die by doctor. Will pressure on them to do so increase as time goes by? Will financial incentives to find treatments and cures for various diseases dry up as the health care system adjusts to the possibility of ending a life rather than caring for it?

If you still don’t get why disabled people and their organizations are opposed to accepting the gift of death so “generously” offered by the government and the medical professionals, feel free to browse around the website, look at previous blog posts, and contemplate the absurdity — and the obscenity — of death being offered to people with disabilities who live with social stigma every day of their lives; who have had to fight like hell for basic things like education, employment, accessible transportation, accessible housing, adequate income for food and other necessities, mobility and communication aids and devices, access to doctors offices and diagnostic devices that work for able bodies but not for them. And basic respect — being listened to when they speak; being visible in public places; being expected, rather than unexpected, when they attend public events; being taken into account in public decision-making of all kinds. Having their relationships honoured and celebrated, not viewed as punishable by removal of income support.

They can’t and won’t stop fighting, and neither will I. I will continue to publish thoughts and arguments here on this blog. I will continue to try to keep up with articles being published, people being pressured to die, and people who succumb to that pressure. You, as a reader, can help by sending me articles, thoughts and proposals. I will continue to read and write and take your input under advisement.

I want to thank everyone who served on the LWD board, everyone who donated to LWD, and everyone who has taken the time to express their support over the past three years. Funds remaining in our bank account will be donated to support the legal efforts of disability rights organizations who are fighting against Track 2 MAID.

And so, a new chapter begins!