AP

Taking Grandma To Be Put Down

How Euthanasia Opened the Door to Massive Assisted Suicides in Canada

In 2016, Canada legalized what it calls Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)—physician-assisted death for those experiencing severe suffering. At the time, the policy was presented as a narrow and compassionate option reserved primarily for those nearing the end of life. Less than a decade later, the numbers tell a very different story. Since legalization, over 70,000 Canadians have died through MAID, with more than 15,000 deaths in 2023 alone. That means roughly one out of every twenty deaths in Canada now occurs through assisted suicide.

What began as an exceptional measure has quickly become a normalized part of the healthcare system. And that should make us pause.

God Determines the Boundaries of Life

From a Christian perspective, life is not something we create or control. It is something given to us by God. Scripture consistently teaches that God determines the boundaries of our lives. Psalm 139:16 declares that all the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came to be. Job famously said: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.”

Human beings are not accidents of biology. We are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). That truth gives every person dignity—whether they are young or old, healthy or suffering, strong or weak.

Historically, this belief shaped Christian civilization. Christians built hospitals, cared for the dying, and defended the weak because every life was understood to carry sacred value. But when a society rejects that foundation, the moral logic begins to shift.

How Secularism Changed the Moral Framework

Modern secular societies increasingly ground ethics in autonomy and personal choice. If the highest good is individual autonomy, then the argument follows that people should have the right to end their lives when they choose. But once autonomy replaces the sacredness of life, a subtle but dangerous shift occurs. Human life begins to be measured by things like independence, productivity, comfort, and quality of life. When those things diminish—through illness, disability, or old age—the value of life itself can begin to appear negotiable.

In that kind of moral framework, assisted suicide begins to look less like a tragedy and more like a solution.

When Mercy Becomes Cruel

Supporters of euthanasia often describe it as a compassionate act, an act of mercy toward those who are suffering. But mercy detached from justice and truth can become something very different. Proverbs 12:10 tells us: “Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.”

True compassion walks with people through suffering. It cares for them, comforts them, and reminds them that their lives still have meaning and value. Ending a life in order to remove suffering may appear merciful on the surface. But in reality it replaces care with elimination. It solves the problem of suffering by removing the sufferer. That is not mercy. That is surrender.

Treating People Like Animals Instead of Souls

Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the euthanasia conversation is how familiar the language has begun to sound. Many people have experienced the painful decision of taking a beloved pet to the veterinarian to be put down when suffering becomes severe. It is often described as the “humane” thing to do. But increasingly, our culture is applying the same logic to human beings.

When a society begins speaking about elderly parents or disabled individuals in ways that resemble the language used for euthanizing animals, something profound has changed. Human beings are not animals. Nor are we machines whose value is determined by how well the system is functioning. We are eternal souls. When we treat people as if their value disappears when their bodies weaken, we abandon one of the most basic truths about humanity, that every life possesses inherent dignity simply because it exists. A culture that forgets this will inevitably begin to view death as a reasonable solution to weakness.

Two Very Different Messages About Suicide

This is where the contrast between nations becomes especially striking. In the United States, enormous effort is invested in suicide prevention. We have national hotlines, public awareness campaigns, counselling services, and constant encouragement for people who are struggling to seek help. The message is clear: your life matters, and people want to help you live.

Yet just across the border, another message is increasingly present within the healthcare system: if your suffering is severe enough, we can help you die. That difference reflects two very different visions of what compassion looks like.

A Culture Reveals Its Values

Every society eventually reveals what it believes about human life. Do we see people as sacred creations made in the image of God? Or do we see them primarily as biological organisms whose value depends on comfort and function? When death becomes a normal medical option, it quietly reshapes how a culture views weakness, ageing, and suffering. And those changes rarely stop where they began. A society is ultimately judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members, the elderly, the disabled, the suffering, and the weak.

The Christian response has always been to protect, care for, and walk alongside them, even when the path is difficult. Because the answer to suffering is not death. The answer is compassion rooted in truth, dignity rooted in God, and hope rooted in the belief that every human life—even the weakest among us—still bears the image of its Creator.

– Tim Madden