MAiD and Abortion in Canada – 2023

By adminguyEnd of Life

As of 2022, "if the number of euthanasia deaths continue to grow at 35% a year, roughly that pace, for the next five years, by 2027 there will be 60,500 Canadians opting for euthanasia."

UPDATE, Nov. 13th, 2023: The number of Canadians who selected MAiD in 2022 has now been released by the Canadian Government in their Fourth annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022. To quote “In 2022, there were 13,241 MAID provisions reported in Canada, accounting for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada.” and “The number of cases of MAID in 2022 represents a growth rate of 31.2% over 2021. All provinces except Manitoba and the Yukon continue to experience a steady year-over-year growth in 2022.”

The graphs below have not yet been updated and are based on an estimated 13,500 euthanasias for 2022.

The title of this article is perhaps a bit misleading because the most up to date data on MAiD and abortion is about a year or two old.

Euthanasia in Canada

To summarize, euthanasia in Canada, given the name MAiD – an Acronym for Medical Assistance in Dying became legally established in Canada in 2016 through the enactment of Bill C-14. “Medical assistance in dying” includes:

  1. “the use of medication by a physician or nurse practitioner to directly cause a person’s death at their request”
  2. “the prescription or provision of medication by a physician or nurse practitioner that a person can use to cause their own death”1

Euthanasia Statistics

So what are the numbers regarding MAiD?

According to Stats Canada there has been a steady increase in the number of Canadians choosing assisted suicide:

Mandatory federal reporting requirements on requests for and provision of MAID in Canada were implemented on November 1, 2018. Based on the available data, the number of medically assisted deaths in Canada has been increasing steadily since the legislation was introduced. In 2017, 2,838 medically assisted deaths were reported by Health Canada, compared with 4,478 deaths in 2018. In 2019, there were 5,425 medically assisted deaths in Canada, accounting for 1.9% of all deaths. In 2020, this increased to 7,383 deaths (2.4% of all deaths in Canada), representing a 36.0% increase in the number of MAID recipients from 2019 to 2020.2

and in 2021 that number inceased to 10,0643

Figure 1. Annual total deaths by euthanasia (MAiD) in Canada, obtained for the years 2017 through 2021 from Stats Canada. * 2022 total deaths by euthanasia estimate from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The average year over year increase in the number of Canadians opting for MAiD from 2018 through 2022, assuming that the 2022 estimate of the euthanasia Prevention Coalition is accurate, is roughly 37%. If the number of euthanasia deaths continue to grow at 35% a year, roughly that pace, for the next five years, by 2027 there will be 60,500 Canadians opting for euthanasia. Clearly there has been a rapid increase in the number of Canadians choosing euthansia. Whether that rate of increase levels off in the near future or continues remains to be seen.

Euthanasia Compared to Abortions and all Other Deaths

Figure 2. Comparison of annual deaths by euthanasia (MAiD), abortion and all deaths in Canada. Death by euthanasia data obtained for the years 2017 through 2021 from Stats Canada. Abortion statistics taken from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. All death statistics from Stats Canada. * 2022 total deaths by euthanasia estimate from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. ** “All Deaths” does not include abortions as the unborn babies that are aborted are not considered human beings in Canada – see section 223 of the Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46)

Figure 2 above compares the total number of deaths in Canada with abortion and euthanasia. (Note: the total number of deaths in Canada do not include abortions but do include death by euthanasia. Total deaths, shown in blue, have had euthanasia deaths subtracted out and the euthanasia deaths are shown separately, in yellow, for comparison to all other deaths.) Figure 3 below is a pie chart showing how abortion and euthanasia compare with all other deaths percentage-wise. This chart gives totals for the number of abortions, death by euthanasia (MAiD) and all other deaths over a period of four years where there is data available for all three. Note that abortion and euthanasia account for one quarter of all deaths in Canada. Given the rapid growth in the number of Canadians opting for euthanasia that share is only going to grow.

Figure 3. Comparison of the cumulative deaths over the four year period from 2017 to 2021 by abortion, euthanasia (MAiD) and all other. Abortion statistics taken from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. Death data from Stats Canada Deaths and age-specific mortality rates, by selected grouped causes.

Abortions Vs. Live Births – Latest 5 & 20 Years

Figure 4 below shows how many pregnancies end in abortion as compared to live births. While Figure 5 covers a longer period – 20 years. Unfortunately a significant number of pregnancies end up being aborted. That is, about 1/5 of all pregnancies for both the four and twenty year periods. Ask yourself what can you do to reduce that number. Note that the last year statistics are available for abortions as of the time of this article was 2021.

Figure 4. Comparison of the cumulative deaths over the four year period from 2017 to 2021 by abortion, euthanasia (MAiD) and all other. Abortion statistics taken from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. Live births data obtained from Stats Canada Live births, by age of mother.

Figure 5. Comparison of the cumulative deaths over the twenty year period from 2001 to 2020 by abortion, euthanasia (MAiD) and all other. Abortion statistics taken from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada prior to 2006, and Stats Canada for 2006 and prior to 2006. Live births data obtained from Stats Canada Live births, by age of mother.

Abortions and Euthanasia Vs. all Other Deaths – Latest 5 & 20 Years

Figure 6. Comparison of the cumulative deaths over the twenty year period from 2001 to 2020 by abortion, euthanasia (MAiD) and all other. Abortion statistics taken from Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada prior to 2006, and Stats Canada for 2006 and prior to 2006. Live births data obtained from Stats Canada Live births, by age of mother.

A comparison of all deaths from the twenty year period from 2001 to 2020 in Figure 6 above gives a breakdown of deaths from abortion, euthanasia and all other. Here it can be seen that close to one third of all deaths in Canada during that period were deliberatly brought about by the Canadian “health care” system.




References

1. What We Heard Report. A Public Consultation on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) 1.0. Introduction
2. Medical Assistance in Dying, 2019 and 2020
3. Third annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2021