If you want to see the slippery slope of euthanasia in all its increasing horror, look at Canada.
A 26-year-old Canadian man who had seasonal depression has been euthanised by a notorious doctor who is personally responsible for ending the lives of over 400 of her patients.
Kiano Vafaeian, who had partial vision loss and lived with Type 1 diabetes, faced mental health struggles, which often became worse in the winter, as a result of a car accident when he was 17. After losing vision in one of his eyes in 2022, Vafaeian became “obsessed” with ending his life by assisted dying, according to his mother, Margaret Marsilla.
Vafaeian had attempted to end his life on Canada’s assisted suicide and euthanasia programme several times but had been rejected by several doctors, with one doctor saying, “This patient does not have terminal illness and/or reasonably foreseeable natural death”.
Despite this, Dr Ellen Wiebe, one of Canada’s most prolific providers of state euthanasia, approved Vafaeian’s request, and he had his life ended, which Vafaeian’s parents only learned about days after the fact.
Wiebe, who has described her role in administering euthanasia as “the most rewarding work [I’ve] ever done”, has made headlines with her zeal for euthanising her patients. Last year, she suggested that being motivated to end your life due to concerns about housing should be accepted as a legitimate reason for euthanasia in Canada.
“Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help”, Vafaeian’s mother said. “He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not capable of making a final, irreversible decision”.
“This is not healthcare. This is a failure of ethics, accountability, and humanity. No parent should ever have to bury their child because a system – and a doctor – chose death over care, help or love”, she added.
The eligibility criteria for Canada’s assisted suicide and euthanasia programme have rapidly expanded since the original legislation was passed in 2016. In 2021, the Canadian Parliament repealed the requirement that the natural death of those applying for assisted suicide be “reasonably foreseeable”, known as Track 2. In 2024, legislation was introduced so that euthanasia and assisted suicide would be legal on the grounds of mental health alone in March 2027.