WHITBY, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — A mother’s bid to save her 23-year-old son from medically assisted suicide has so far succeeded.
Yesterday Kiano V. told LifeSiteNews that, thanks to his mother Margaret Marsilla’s social media campaign—which included a petition posted on both Change.org and CitizenGo—his doctor withdrew his support from the young man’s attempt to end his life through MAiD (medical assistance in dying).
“[My doctor said] that everyone was calling his clinic, calling his phone, sending text messages, saying he’s a murderer, just harassing his clinic to the point where he withdrew his role in my care plan,” Kiano said.
Marsilla concurred, saying, “We managed to put a little bit of fear in [the doctor], but another doctor might pick up the situation.”
However, as far as LifeSitenews has been able to ascertain from her son, no new doctor has stepped forward.
Kiano, whose surname is known to LifeSiteNews, told the outlet that his MAiD appointment was originally scheduled for September 22, but this was postponed to September 28 shortly after his family found out about it.
Kiano, who was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was four, is now visually impaired. He described arguing with his parents that his incurable disease was reason enough for seeking euthanasia.
“I was telling my parents, ‘You know, you can’t change this. I mean, my diabetes, it’s not something you can cure—my vision loss, it’s not something you can cure—in the foreseeable future, so this is still my choice’.”
Kiano said his parents insisted on speaking to his doctors and were not happy with the answers they were getting, and he believes that his refusal to allow them to speak with “the MAiD doctor who was going to administer the IV” frustrated them to the extent that they decided “to start social media campaigns, take matters into their own hands.”
READ: Prayers needed: Canadian mom desperate to save 23-year-old from being euthanised Sept. 28
On September 21, at 10 PM, Kiano said, his doctor phoned. He told the young man about all the hostile messages he had received thanks to his mother’s social media campaign and said that he was going to resign from his “care plan” and find the young man another “assessor” unless his mother relented.
“He said that there’s still a second assessor on board, and I’m going to have to find another assessor unless your mother decides to apologize, write, and promises to stop all social media campaigns as well as not take any legal action towards the doctor if and when Kiano decides to be euthanized,” Kiano told LifeSiteNews.
Marsilla, however, made it clear to both her son and the doctor that she would not even think of writing such a letter. Thus, Kiano tried to find someone else to support his euthanasia bid but, he said, was turned down by the “the central intake team.”
“I called in the central intake for MAiD coordination service, which you would normally call to be referred to an assessor who has expertise in medically-assisted death, which the database is so low now, and I’ve exhausted the resources from the central intake team, that they also denied me a service,” he explained.
“They said, ‘You know, we’re not going to be participating in finding you another assessor. It’s in your hands. You have to speak with your family doctor.”
UPDATE (01/30/23): Mark Houck has been AQUITTED on both charges!
Thanks be to God LifeSiteNews can report that Mark Houck has been found "Not Guilty" on all counts today.
In a statement to LifeSiteNews, Pro-Life Coalition of Pennsylvania spokeswoman and Houck family friend Ashley Garecht said “We rejoice and celebrate that Mark Houck has been found not guilty on all counts.”
“This case was always about a father’s right to protect his son, and never had anything to do with the FACE act,” she said. “We are grateful to the judge for his integrity, and to the jurors for their thoughtful deliberations. We are grateful to Mark’s attorneys who labored so diligently in his defense. And we are grateful for all of those who surrounded and supported Mark and his family in prayer through this challenging ordeal.”
“Most of all we praise and thank God for his protection and provision,” Garecht added. “To Him be all the glory.”
The Thomas More Society is set to hold a press conference today on the 6th street side of the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, 601 Market Street, Philadelphia.
Monday’s verdict came after a tense weekend wait following a deadlocked jury on Friday.
Several hours into Monday’s deliberations after the jury reconvened, an alternate was chosen to replace one of the jurors. Just before 3:00 p.m. EST, the jury delivered its verdict, acquitting Houck on both charges.
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Mark Houck, a pro-life Catholic father of 7, became the latest victim of an FBI raid and arrest on the morning of Friday September 23 — for supposed “FACE (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances) Act” violations — at his rural home as his children looked on “screaming.”
The arrest and raid stems from an altercation with a Planned Parenthood worker.
According to Mark’s wife Ryan-Marie, a “pro-abortion protester” would verbally harrass Mark's 12-year old son — hurling vulgar and derogatory statements.
When the protestor encroached in the boy's space, Mark defended his son. At that point, “Mark shoved him away from his child, and the guy fell back,” Ryan-Marie recounts.
The protestor was not injured, but he tried to sue Mark Houck for the assault but his case was thrown out of court in the early summer.
WE CANNOT ALLOW THE LEFT TO HARRASS PRO-LIFE ADVOCATES THIS WAY!
It's vital to stand in solidarity with a pro-family and pro-life man being unjustly persecuted - please SIGN & SHARE our message of support now.
In case you hadn't caught on already, the satanic Biden administration is waging war on Christians. https://t.co/E6ChpZVDYW
— Michael (X) Knowles ✊ (@michaeljknowles) September 24, 2022
The description of this arrest sounds like it took place in a totalitarian state. A tragic unraveling of Justice in America. https://t.co/e3vEID7E39
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) September 25, 2022
If convicted, Houck faces up to a maximum of 11 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and fines of up to $350,000, according to the Justice Department.
Additional conservative pro-life leaders have weighed in — this is why we need your support ASAP.
“Just in the last few days we’ve seen some pretty glaring examples of what appear to be instances of DOJ [Department of Justice] overreach. You’ve got a Catholic father of seven who formed a group designed to encourage young men to be faithful to their commitments, arrested in front of his seven children just recently. You’ve got all these instances of overreach. It’s deeply concerning to us all. These are all things we’re gonna be looking into.” — US Senator Mike Lee
Tell the Houck family that you stand by them!
SIGN: We stand with pro-life Catholic dad of 7 raided by Biden’s FBI
Please share this petition widely. Let's stand in solidarity with Mark Houck and his family.
Thank you.
Instead, the young man began to put his case before hospitals in his region, reluctant family members serving as chauffeurs. One doctor told him it was unlikely that he was going to be considered for MAiD, given his age and his “physique.”
“You know, I’m walking around,” Kiano acknowledged. “I may be disabled—I have blindness—but the doctor says, ‘You look healthy; I doubt they’re going to entertain you [as a candidate for MAiD]’.”
Then, this Monday, September 26, Kiano attempted to have himself admitted to palliative care by formally announcing to hospital staff that he was going to stop taking medicine to treat his diabetes.
“I said, ‘I give up on [treating] the diabetes. I’m giving up insulin shots. Could you admit me to palliative and end-of-life care?’ That was something they were not willing to do.”
Instead they did a psychiatric assessment. Kiano said that a psychiatrist spoke to him for “at least two hours” and told him that if he told her he was not going to take his medicine, the hospital would keep him there under the Mental Health Act. As it was the psychiatrist encouraged him to stay for 72 hours for more interviews, but Kiano didn’t want to lose his freedom.
The family say they believed there was “no way” Kiano would be approved for MAiD for having diabetes. Also, it is not yet legal to be accepted for MAiD for mental health issues.
The tipping point which has led Kiano to pursue assisted suicide appears to have been his sight loss. While his sight was failing, Marsilla said, Kiano was frightened and stopped talking about MAiD. However, when Kiano began to get a lot of pressure behind his left eye and was told he would need monthly injections, he asked his ophthalmologist at Toronto’s Catholic St. Michael’s Hospital—in front of his mother, she said—to help him get MAiD. This the ophthalmologist said he couldn’t do. However, there was also a social worker present, and Marsilla is “99.9% sure” that the social worker helped guide her son towards the medical assistance in dying network.
Kiano told LifeSiteNews that getting a needle in his eye made him decide not to continue life with diabetes.
“The course of treatment is not going to get any less,” he said.
“It isn’t not going to get any better with time. You know, the deterioration of my body, of my mind, even, is so high, that I have experienced all that I feel comfortable with,” he continued.
“I’m ready to end my pain and suffering. I foresee my future to be more complications, more suffering, tremendous amounts of pain to degrees I haven’t experienced before. And after experiencing a needle in my eye, I did not want to continue, and that was a dead giveaway.”
LifeSiteNews encourages our readers to pray for Kiano, that he will come to realize that there is always hope and that life is worth living. LifeSiteNews also encourages readers to pray for an end to Canada’s brutal euthanasia/assisted suicide regime and educate themselves on the need to provide those who are suffering with compassionate care rather than death.
If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or simply by calling or texting 988 (in the U.S.), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.