Canada's practice of taking donor organs from people who have been euthanized is a "strange new horror," said an official from the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill, who is also the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Washington Examiner that Canada's use of its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) procedures to secure donor organs was far worse than anything he had seen in the United States.
“We thought we’d seen all the possible horrors, you know, in America, and then Canada had this strange new horror that was really just shocking,” O'Neill told the publication.
Since MAiD was legalized in Canada, there had been a "substantial increase" in deceased organ donation in the province of Quebec, said a 2024 paper published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
A study of organ donation in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain, where euthanasia is legal, found that in the year 2022, there were 286 people who donated their organs following their death by euthanasia. Of that figure, 136 were from Canada, reported the Washington Examiner.
The majority of MAID recipients are not eligible to be organ donors due to various factors, such as age or a cancer diagnosis. Canada is one of few countries that allows people who are not terminally ill to receive euthanasia.
In 2024, 7% of all organ donations in Canada from deceased donors (as opposed to living donors) came from people who died by MAiD, said the Canadian Institute on Health Information (CIHI).
Five percent of total transplants in 2024 used organs that were procured after MAID procedures, said CIHI.
The Church's stance on organ donation
The Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the topic of organ donation, saying it is a "noble and meritorious act" as long as the donor or those who speak for the donor has given explicit consent.
Organ transplants are in conformity with the moral law if the physical and psychological dangers and risks incurred by the donor are proportionate to the good sought for the recipient. Donation of organs after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as a manifestation of generous solidarity. It is not morally acceptable if the donor or those who legitimately speak for him have not given their explicit consent.
It is furthermore morally inadmissible directly to bring about the disabling mutilation or death of a human being, even in order to delay the death of other persons.
Canada euthanizes prisoners
In December, data released from the Canadian government showed that 15 prisoners have been euthanized through MAiD since its legalization. Fourteen of these prisoners were euthanized at "external facilities," said the government, and "one received it within a correctional institution at their own request."
Further details, such as the identity of the prisoners, their crimes, or sentences, was not available.
Capital punishment has been illegal in Canada since 1998, but the last criminal execution took place in 1962.
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