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Canada sees 32% increase in assisted suicide and euthanasia in one year

In 2021, the number of people who ended their lives by assisted suicide and euthanasia increased by over 32% from the previous year, accounting for 3.3% of all deaths in Canada.

According to the latest report on Medical Assistance in Dying  from Health Canada, 10,064 Canadians ended their lives by assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2021. This figure represents 3.3% of all deaths in Canada and is an increase of 32.4% from the 2020 figures.

A total of 31,664 people have ended their lives by assisted suicide or euthanasia in Canada since legislation making it legal was passed in 2016.

1 in 5 cite loneliness as a reason to want to die

The report states that 86.3% gave the loss of the ability to engage in meaningful activities as among the main reasons for wanting to end their life. Additionally, 83.4% said the loss of the ability to perform activities of daily living was a reason for wanting to end their lives.

57.6% cited inadequate pain control or concern about pain although the report does not distinguish between those who actually experienced pain they could not control and those who were concerned about pain which they did not actually experience.

17.3% of people also cited “isolation or loneliness” as a reason for wanting to die. In 35.7% of cases, patients believed that they were a “burden on family, friends or caregivers”.

End of life concerns are not medical

Statistics from the state of Oregon which made assisted suicide legal in 1997 tell a similar story. The Oregon Health Authority report for 2021 says that 54.2% of patients were concerned with being a “burden on family, friends/caregivers”. 92% of patients were concerned with being “Less able to engage in activities making life enjoyable”. 93.3% were concerned with “losing autonomy” and 68.1% were concerned with “loss of dignity”. Of the total who have died since 1997, 27.5% have listed “inadequate pain control, or concern about it” as one of their end of life concerns.

Right To Life UK spokesperson, Catherine Robinson, said: “The report on the numbers of Canadians undergoing assisted suicide and euthanasia is alarming both in terms of the increase in uptake and in terms of the reasons given for wanting to end their lives. As in Oregon, the reasons given are overwhelming social, psychological, familial and even spiritual. Importantly, the great majority of the very real concerns have nothing to do with medicine. We can recognise these real problems and attempt to address them without offering death as a solution”.

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Dear reader,

Despite the Leadbeater assisted-suicide Bill passing its Third Reading on 20 June, it scraped through by just 23 votes (314-291) after enjoying a 55-vote majority at Second Reading. Had 12 more MPs switched sides, the Bill would be dead. It now limps into the Lords with a wafer-thin majority, where peers can amend, delay or reject it outright.

THE CHALLENGE

Dignity in Dying, My Death My Decision and Humanists UK have poured millions into pushing assisted suicide and will fight hard to stop the Lords overturning the Bill.

At the same time, the Antoniazzi abortion-up-to-birth amendment, passed by MPs in June, also heads to the Lords. If it becomes law, it would no longer be illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason – including sex-selective purposes – and at any point up to and during birth.

We will be up against the UK’s largest abortion providers, BPAS and MSI Reproductive Choices (formerly Marie Stopes), who are expected to push for even more extreme changes to our abortion laws in the Lords.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Thousands of vulnerable lives are now at stake. Battling these two threats is the biggest and most expensive effort in our history, and has drained our limited resources. To fight effectively on both fronts, we aim to raise £200,000 by midnight this Sunday (13 July 2025).

Every donation, large or small, will help protect lives, and UK taxpayers can add 25p to every £1 through Gift Aid at no extra cost.

Will you make a donation now to help protect vulnerable lives from these major threats?

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to protect vulnerable lives

Help stop three major anti-life threats.

Help fight major assisted suicide and abortion up to birth threats.