{"id":265360,"date":"2017-07-28T10:30:27","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T14:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:42:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:42:43","slug":"canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada has its own history of euthanasia"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I read of medical aid in dying proponents\u2019<\/a> opposition to Dr. Harvey Schipper\u2019s referring to the treatment of people with disabilities under the Nazi regime, I was reminded of a criticism by a member of the audience when I made similar comments during a presentation long ago.<\/p>\n

In that presentation I talked about the role played by the practice of eugenics in the history of disability. I was told in no uncertain terms that it was unacceptable for me to have spoken of the killing of people with disabilities in Nazi-controlled Germany. Why? Because, here in Canada, there might be people of German origin in the audience who would be offended by such comments! To my critic, the issue was taboo! I disagreed. Postwar Germany has never held such views. The German people have worked diligently since the Second World War to ensure that the Nazi atrocities toward people with disabilities, embedded as they are in history, will not be repeated.<\/p>\n

I cannot believe that opposition to Schipper\u2019s comments is based either on denial of those Nazi realities or on sensitivities such as those mentioned above. As Catherine Frazee notes in her recent response<\/a> to the opposition to Schipper, the Nazi euthanasia program is part of the history of her life as a disabled person, and it is also part of the history of the medical profession. She reminds us that those \u201cwho would forbid us to speak of this history or who would police our speech as strident and unwelcome can only fuel doubt about whether its lessons have been learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

If, indeed, some of us are reluctant to heed those lessons of the Nazi era in Germany, perhaps we could look at the lessons offered by our own history of eugenics. For a relatively recent example of euthanasia, according to Drs. D.P. Girvan and C.A. Stephens in an article<\/a> (paywall) on the surgical management of a specific serious medical condition, 27 newborn babies were left to starve to death at Toronto\u2019s renowned Hospital for Sick Children in the 20-year period ending in December 1971. They all had the medical condition, for which the standard and only treatment is immediate surgery. They did not receive the surgery. In the same period, in the same hospital, 120 other newborn babies with the same serious medical condition did receive the standard surgery, and 67 percent of those babies survived. The difference between the babies who were given the privilege of life through the necessary surgical intervention and the babies for whom euthanasia was seen as the appropriate solution was that the 27 babies who were euthanized had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

In an even more recent example, in 1983, Dr. Nachum Gal was charged with first-degree murder and eight additional charges in the death of a 16-hour-old baby in an Edmonton hospital. The baby\u2019s parents were given to understand that their daughter had died because of brain damage resulting from lack of oxygen at birth. When it became known that Gal had ordered the injection of an abnormal and massive dose of morphine<\/a> \u2014 the child died soon after receiving it \u2014 an inquiry was held. Tissue or blood samples were not taken at the time of the baby\u2019s death, and Judge Carl Rolf decided that without that information it was \u201cnot possible to determine the cause of death,\u201d even though the medical examiner had altered the cause from \u201cbirth asphyxia\u201d to \u201cmorphine intoxication.\u201d In any case, by that time, Gal had safely returned to Israel, whose government refused to extradite him to face charges.<\/p>\n

The fact that public acceptance of the notion of euthanasia for people with disabilities was not automatic was long ago recognized in the standard medical texts, such as Tredgold\u2019s Textbook on Mental Deficiency<\/em> (originally published in 1908 and used for much of the past century in most of the Western world \u2014 including Canada). In the 1963 (10th) edition<\/a> of this textbook, the pros and cons of euthanasia are in the chapter titled \u201cThe Prevention of Subnormality,\u201d where Tredgold suggested that \u201cprobably most people would agree that it would be better were there no defectives,\u201d but that did not mean that public opinion would condone \u201cactively destroying them all.\u201d Significantly, Tredgold made what today seems to be an utterly shocking and unacceptable distinction between \u201chigh grade defectives [who] are capable of enjoying life, forming loving relationships with others, and of performing useful work\u201d and \u201clow-grade defectives\u201d whose \u201ccare and support, whether in their own homes or institutions, absorb a large amount of the time, energy and money of the normal population.\u201d Tredgold further opined that these \u201clow-grade defectives\u201d could not be employed to any advantage, and many of them are \u201cutterly helpless, miserable, deformed, repulsive, unlovable and unloving.\u201d Suggesting that it might be \u201ctime for society to consider whether euthanasia should be permitted at the request of a parent or a guardian,\u201d he noted that \u201cmany clinicians believe that it would be an economical and humane procedure were their existence to be painlessly terminated, and that this would be welcomed by a large proportion of parents.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Canada \u2014 possibly for the reason Tredgold cited, that public opinion might not tolerate the deliberate destruction of people with intellectual disabilities, but nevertheless to our collective shame \u2014 sterilization and segregation were the preferred solutions to dealing with the \u201csocietal problem\u201d of people we now recognize as having intellectual and developmental disabilities. Appalling as it is, our own history is well documented. Pretending such practice did not exist or trying to stifle its telling is cowardly, to say the least. It happened!<\/p>\n

If recorded history is not sufficient, perhaps a personal example might help. My son has Down syndrome. He was born in 1964 (the year after the appearance of Tredgold\u2019s 10th edition). At the funeral of his dad\u2019s oldest friend, we were introduced to the son of another former high school classmate, who was a doctor. The doctor immediately asked our son\u2019s age and, unsuspectingly, I told him. \u201cAhh,\u201d was the response, \u201cjust before amniocentesis [was introduced]!\u201d In other words, \u201cAhh! Born just before you would have been free to abort him!\u201d While the graveside of a dear friend was hardly the place for me to give the response that was demanded by that shocking comment, I will forever regret my failure to do so.<\/p>\n

It has taken many lifetimes of pain, insult and unhappiness for the persistent abuse of people with disabilities to be recognized and their rights enunciated in Canada. For people with disabilities, euthanasia has long been an issue of concern.<\/p>\n

The abuse they have experienced is not restricted to euthanasia, sterilization, institutionalization or selective prenatal destruction, nor is it just certain doctors who inflict it. As Catherine Frazee points out, \u201cPeople with disabilities have suffered violence and harm at the hands of doctors, parents and caregivers.\u201d Subtler but still pervasive harm has been done by the indifference of much of society to the social and personal well-being of people with disabilities, which has led to their historical exclusion from formal education, employment opportunities and, in general, living a \u201cnormal\u201d lifestyle. In today\u2019s autonomy-focused society, this indifference makes people with disabilities particularly vulnerable. Frazee\u2019s reference to the Nazi euthanasia program is a timely reminder of this for all of us.<\/p>\n

We cannot let a political argument about our selfish personal desires to choose when and how we die with medical assistance detract from the imperative to respect the inherent vulnerability of people with disabilities in this context.<\/p>\n

Photo: Shutterstock\/Nick Starichenko<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it.\u00a0<\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ?\u00a0<\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I read of medical aid in dying proponents\u2019 opposition to Dr. Harvey Schipper\u2019s referring to the treatment of people with disabilities under the Nazi regime, I was reminded of a criticism by a member of the audience when I made similar comments during a presentation long ago. In that presentation I talked about the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":253635,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T01:42:45Z","apple_news_api_id":"ca10fbe0-b2d9-4b79-bdf9-3260a2320671","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T01:42:45Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AyhD74LLZS3m9-TJgojIGcQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9357,9372,9377],"tags":[8450,8536],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4368,4251,4286],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7082],"class_list":["post-265360","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politiques-sociales","category-recent-stories-fr","category-sante","tag-assisted-dying-fr","tag-disability-fr","irpp-category-incapacites","irpp-category-politique-sociale","irpp-category-sante","irpp-tag-aide-medicale-a-mourir"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nCanada has its own history of euthanasia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Canada has its own history of euthanasia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As I read of medical aid in dying proponents\u2019 opposition to Dr. Harvey Schipper\u2019s referring to the treatment of people with disabilities under the Nazi regime, I was reminded of a criticism by a member of the audience when I made similar comments during a presentation long ago. In that presentation I talked about the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Policy Options\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-08T01:42:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@irpp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/\",\"name\":\"Canada has its own history of euthanasia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-28T14:30:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-08T01:42:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":700},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Canada has its own history of euthanasia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/\",\"name\":\"Policy Options\",\"description\":\"Institute for Research on Public Policy\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Canada has its own history of euthanasia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/","og_locale":"fr_FR","og_type":"article","og_title":"Canada has its own history of euthanasia","og_description":"As I read of medical aid in dying proponents\u2019 opposition to Dr. Harvey Schipper\u2019s referring to the treatment of people with disabilities under the Nazi regime, I was reminded of a criticism by a member of the audience when I made similar comments during a presentation long ago. In that presentation I talked about the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/","og_site_name":"Policy Options","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/IRPP.org","article_modified_time":"2025-10-08T01:42:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":700,"url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@irpp","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/","name":"Canada has its own history of euthanasia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-28T14:30:27+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-08T01:42:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"fr-FR","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"fr-FR","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/cathh.jpg","width":2000,"height":700},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/07\/canada-has-its-own-history-of-euthanasia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Canada has its own history of euthanasia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/","name":"Policy Options","description":"Institute for Research on Public Policy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"fr-FR"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues\/265360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issues"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265360"},{"taxonomy":"article-status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-status?post=265360"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-category?post=265360"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=265360"},{"taxonomy":"irpp-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/irpp-tag?post=265360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}