An advertisement by Simons, a retailer in Canada, that attempted to tell a dying woman’s story of euthanasia in a positive and artistic way was not telling the whole story at all.
In a shocking turn of events, CTV News announced at the beginning of December that the woman who appeared in the short film “All is Beauty” (no longer available on the company’s website) is the same woman who sought assisted suicide because the costs of care were too high and not covered by insurance.
As Jennyfer Hatch stated in an originally anonymous story by CTV News, “‘Our health-care system is set up so it’s really bouncing the patient around treating symptom after symptom and not really addressing the underlying collagen issue,’ she said. ‘From a disability and financial perspective as well, I can’t afford the resources that would help improve my quality of life. Because of being locked in financially as well and geographically, it is far easier to let go than keep fighting.’”
Sadly, Jennyfer Hatch is not the only person with a disability who cannot receive adequate medical care and long term services and supports, nor is it only people in Canada who experience this crisis.
Barbara Wagner, Denise, Brian Callister, Linda Fleming, Randy Stroup, and Stephanie Packer all have stories of being denied the care services they needed, but found assisted suicide drugs were covered by state-funded insurance. Unfortunately, some of them died as a result.
No one should be forced to choose between poverty and death.
Yet for Jennyfer Hatch, the healthcare system did not provide her with the resources she needed to continue life. She felt she had no option but to end her life. Though her story was glamorized for a fashion company’s advertisement, the real story is one of tragedy – that a young woman was unable to get the care she needed to live, so instead she was pushed by euthanasia public policy to an assisted death.
Mental Illness is not a Terminal Diagnosis Canada announced a delay in the implementation of assisted suicide for people with mental health disabilities. Since this delay, many proponents of and advocates against these laws have spoken up about this decision. Mr. Ashley Geddes wrote an article in the Alberta Times covering some of the reactions
Life With Dignity In our pandemic strained, profit-driven health care system, intractable pain and the fear of unimaginable suffering is not one of the top five reasons surveyed that many of society’s most vulnerable feel driven towards assisted suicide; Loss of autonomy, dignity and the perceived fear of being a burden to family, friends and
Canada’s Expansion in the World Medical Journal The World Medical Journal shared a compelling article on the dangerous expansions in Canada’s assisted suicide laws. The article reveals that Canada implemented their expansion to allow assisted suicide for patients with mental illness, and did so with a lack of evidence-based decision making, medical expert input, or
