Community organizations warn more people with disabilities could choose medically assisted death in the face of inflation and “legislated poverty”
Why It Matters
More than 6.2 million Canadians live with a disability, putting them at a greater risk of living in poverty. Meanwhile, two thirds of organizations serving those with disabilities are at risk of closing down in the next three years.
Inflation has many Canadians making tough decisions about affordability, but for some of those living with disabilities, rising costs are leading to homelessness, poverty, hunger and — in some cases — death.
“There are people choosing (medical assistance in dying) right now, this is actually happening,” says Victoria Levack, an advocate with The Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia. “Because they don’t have access to housing or supports.”
Last spring, a 51-year-old Ontario woman died with medical assistance after being unable to find affordable housing that met her medical needs. A few months later, Winnipegger Sathya Kovoc chose a medically assisted death, not because she’d been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, but because she was unable to access adequate home care.
In her own obituary, Kovac wrote “it was not a genet
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