Disabled Woman Pressured To Accept Euthanasia

Matt Gilmour reported for CTV news Montreal on July 5 that Tracy Polewczuk, a woman who lives with Spina Bifida, on two separate occasions was urged to request euthanasia by a medical professional without initiating the request.

Tracy Polewczuk, who lives in Pointe-Claire Québec, on Montreal island stated in an interview with Gilmour that:

     On two separate occasions and without prompting, she says she was informed that she would be eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAID), once by a nurse at the rehabilitation centre at Ste-Anne's Hospital and another time by a social worker at the Verdun Hospital.

"It feels like we are being pushed towards the MAID program instead of being given the help to live," Polewczuk who had broken her leg in an accident two years ago lives in pain because her leg didn't properly heal after the accident.

Polewczuk told Gilmour that:

     "Pain sucks. We all agree. It's terrible. I'm in pain 24/7. It never stops. I can survive that. I cannot survive being treated like a sack of meat,"

Family physician, Dr. Paul Saba told Gilmour:

     ..that it's seen as a recommendation whenever a doctor makes a suggestion or a health care worker. "We need to improve our health care system for everybody regardless of their condition, regardless of the disability,"

Polewczuk told Gilmour that:

     "...she often feels like a burden, but her choice is clear. I want to survive. I want to thrive. I want my life back. I want the opposite of what they're trying to have us do,"
Polewczuk is not alone in her experience. Recently Heather Hancock sent an article to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition with a similar story. Hancock, who lives with Spastic Cerebral Palsy, has also been pressured by medical staff on several occasions to ask for euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg is executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.