(LifeSiteNews) –– The Canadian province of Ontario has seen deaths by state-sanctioned euthanasia skyrocket by 25 percent in the first five months of 2023, meaning the province is on track to see a whopping 5,000 die via the grim procedure this year alone.
According to up-to-date information posted online by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), Ontario saw some 1,866 deaths by medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from January to May 2023. By comparison, in the first five months of 2022, 1,488 people died by MAiD.
The EPC also noted that an updated report from the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario shows that in May alone, 395 people died by MAiD.
In January of 2023, the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario released the 2022 December euthanasia data, which shows that some 3,934 people died by MAiD in 2022, which was an increase of 27 percent from 2021.
Due to the 2023 numbers showing an increase of around 25 percent compared with the record numbers set in 2022, it is estimated by the EPC that Ontario will see as many as 5,000 deaths from MAiD come the end of the year.
Most MAiD procedures done this year in Ontario have been conducted by Toronto Public Health, with Ottawa Public Health coming in a close second.
Last week, LifeSiteNews reported on recently released records obtained by a pro-life researcher through a Freedom of Information request that show that Ontario’s health ministry allowed procedures for euthanasia to be billed under codes for “palliative care,” meaning the true taxpayer cost for the deadly procedure is likely higher than previously thought.
In late June, LifeSiteNews also reported about the case of 33-year-old quadriplegic Rose Finlay of Bowmanville, Ontario. Finlay, who is a mother of three, said it was easier for her to get approved for state-sanctioned euthanasia than it was for her to successfully obtain help for the disabilities she has been suffering with for years.
According to the EPC, 13,500 Canadians died by MAiD in 2022, with the province of Québec having the highest number of deaths not just in Canada, but in the world.
Statistics show that there were 4,810 MAiD deaths in Québec in 2022, which was a staggering 55 percent more than in 2021. Deaths in the province will likely only go up because of the province’s passing of Bill 11, which further expands its euthanasia laws.
The province of British Columbia has seen a 24 percent increase in MAiD, with some 2,515 people dying from it in 2022 alone.
Last month, LifeSiteNews reported about how pro-life researcher and blogger Patricia Maloney laid bare how the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has handed out more than $3 million to a pro-euthanasia advocacy group, the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers.
The Trudeau government legalized euthanasia in 2016, and since that time deaths have skyrocketed under the MAiD program. There has been a continued push to further expand who can qualify for state-sanctioned death.
The expansion to include MAiD to those suffering solely from mental illness came as part of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for doctor-assisted death.
The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March of this year. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians and others, the Liberals under Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39, which became law on March 9.