Life in a time of euthanasia
10 Questions with Amanda Achtman on MAiD, meaning and more
In this interview, Amanda shares why she blogged about death every day for a whole year, why elderly Canadians are tattooing messages to doctors on their bodies, and shares why euthanasia is bad for the individual and for society, and much more.
With a pitstop in Rome and with scroll-stopping quotes from great writers that speak directly to the challenges of our times, this 10 Qs is a deep and meaningful dive.
1. Your current project, Dying To Meet You, seeks to humanize the cultural conversation around suffering, death and the meaning of life. How did this project—its importance and its scope—materialize for you?
When I was in high school, I remember hearing a youth leader say: “Your vocation is where your passion intersects with the needs of the world.” Naturally, on hearing this as a young person, I first thought of my passion in terms of my interests, my aptitudes, what I enjoy, and what comes easily to me. But the word “passion” has another sense and is derived from the meaning “to suffer” or “to undergo.”
What changes in our discernment when we consider the way in which our weaknesses and difficulties intersect with the needs of a suffering, wounded world?
I would say that facing up to the big questions of morality and mortality over the years has contributed to my ethical sensitivity and engagement in this regard.
As that high schooler, I could not have imagined that I would eventually be dedicating myself to preventing euthanasia and encouraging hope; euthanasia had not yet been legalized and was not a matter of public discussion.
But several years later and shortly after the death of my last grandparent, the Canadian government legalized euthanasia in 2016. The summer of legalization, I wrote this piece for Crisis Magazine analyzing why people really seek assisted suicide. I was immediately seized with interest and concern about why suicide and euthanasia were becoming an increasing temptation within my own society, and I felt called to take seriously this cry of the heart.
A few years later, the Liberal Government began eroding all of the so-called safeguards that had initially been deemed essential. By that point, I was working in the office of a Conservative member of parliament as we sought to prevent the legislative expansion of euthanasia on the basis of disability and mental illness. We received hundreds of emails from people across the country begging us to protect them and their loved ones with laws that would safeguard life.
These stories weighed heavily on me; they still do. Aware that we were outnumbered in Parliament and the law expanding euthanasia would pass, we still did our utmost to fight it, while giving voice to those most at risk, including: persons with disabilities, the elderly, those struggling with mental health challenges, and many others.
On January 1, 2021, I made a personal New Year’s Resolution to blog about death every single day for an entire year in a way that was edifying and ultimately oriented toward hope. Writing those blog posts became a highlight of my day throughout that year. I learned a lot and it deepened my friendships and relationships tremendously.
After working in politics, I moved to Rome for further studies and it was during this time that I discerned my next step: to move back to Canada, base myself in four major cities for three months each, and devote the year to writing, speaking, producing short films, and organizing community events all in an effort to prevent euthanasia and encourage hope.
And so, Dying to Meet You had unfolded step by step. The project reflects my interests, experiences, and struggles combined with my desire to respond to what strikes me as one of the most obvious and pressing cultural crises of our time.
2. Many Canadians are caught off guard by MAID, and face the reality of it for the first time in a healthcare setting when a doctor suggests the procedure or after a family member dies. How do you think families and individuals can better prepare for this jolting conversation?
It is crucial for family and friends to be vigilant on behalf of their loved ones. We know that doctors and nurses are raising euthanasia with patients unsolicited, often repeatedly. See, for example, this document about bringing up MAID as a clinical care option.
The counselling of suicide at the time of a person’s vulnerability is devastating. Often, the notion is raised subtly, disguised by dissembling acronyms and euphemisms; but patients usually know what is being suggested.
To be offered euthanasia, in a sense, already kills the person. It deflates a person’s sense of worth and shatters their confidence that the people to whom they have entrusted themselves will actually fight for them.
Consider the words of Tracy Polewczuk, a patient who attests that she has been offered euthanasia twice unprompted. She said, “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."
There is no greater pain than being unwanted.
Family and friends can help by accompanying their loved ones to appointments and by showing up frequently to visit. This sends the message to everyone involved in that person’s care that they are cherished, and so helps to guard against any dismissing or discounting of them.
It may also be possible to preempt a demoralizing conversation about euthanasia by making it known that a person is not interested in hearing about MAID, let alone having his or her life actually ended prematurely.
More posts on MAiD:
3. Some Canadians are going to great lengths to make sure doctors don’t euthanize them, like the 88-year-old woman you interviewed who got “Don't euthanize me” tattooed on her body. Are their concerns legitimate?
First, I encourage everyone to watch Christine Nagel’s story, here.
I noticed on X the other day that another person decided to get bracelets ahead of going into a surgery. The bracelets say, “Full Code” and “NO MAID. NO DNR.” I think that what this represents is that persons who are already experiencing the vulnerability of being a patient now feel an added vulnerability due to the availability and prevalence of euthanasia in Canada.
This goes to show that the reality of euthanasia being legal within a society cannot be a matter of concern only for those who opt for it; it actually affects and concerns everyone.
4. It seems almost silly to ask this, but as I connect with Canadians concerned about euthanasia, people have trouble putting to words why they are against it. Because euthanasia is becoming so normalized in Canada, can you share your “elevator pitch” for why it’s bad to end life in this way?
Thank you for asking this question. You’re right that, given the desensitization and normalization of euthanasia, the starting point in our country is often, “Why not MAID?”
Luigi Giussani put it very succinctly when he said, “To exist means that I am continually wanted.” The fact of being alive means you have a reason to be here. Those who have faced up to the precariousness of life are often especially capable of grasping its preciousness. Every second a person has on earth is an occasion both for that person to mature more fully and to be a gift to others. And this does not depend on a person’s capabilities. Everyone understands the concept of “wasting time”; how much more should we avoid “wasting life” by prematurely cutting it short so definitely.
As I wrote here, the dying person deserves to be the protagonist in his or her own death; euthanasia is wrong first and foremost for the sake of his or her life and good. But euthanasia is also wrong because it involves a medical professional killing an innocent person. This is not inflammatory rhetoric; the way that euthanasia was legalized was by amending the Criminal Code to say: “No medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits culpable homicide if they provide a person with medical assistance in dying.”
We should do everything we can to prevent suicide and homicide within our communities.
5. You argue that our problem as a culture isn’t so much that we have a culture of death. Instead, it’s that we have “death without culture.” What do you mean by that?
Yes, we need customs, rituals, and narratives in order to contend with the mystery of suffering and death. When I visit other countries and experience different cultures, I often find greater communal engagement and stronger cultural norms when it comes to the experiences of suffering, dying, and grieving. But, in Canada, it often seems that we are at a loss. Many people feel uncomfortable and are not sure what to do. Expectations are ambiguous and then disappointments become rife. We often do not know how to sit still with people amidst experiences of pain and grief. This takes practice. In Wind, Sand, and Stars, Antoine de St. Exupery says,
“And these human relations must be created. One must go through an apprenticeship to learn the job. Games and risk are a help here. When we exchange manly handshakes, compete in races, join together to save one of us who is in trouble, cry aloud for help in the hour of danger—only then do we learn that we are not alone on earth.”
Some apprenticeship like that seems to be needed for the experiences of suffering, dying, and grieving. Although perhaps instead of handshakes and races, we need to practice hand-holding and the slowing down it takes to be truly present.
6. Why is beauty and story so important if we want to affirm the value of life?
Interestingly, the pro-euthanasia ad released by the clothing company Simons a few years ago was titled, “All is Beauty.” And so, before the question of “Why beauty?” we really must tackle the more foundational question, “What is beauty?”
A quotation from Dietrich von Hildebrand’s Aesthetics comes to mind in which he says:
"Genuine beauty liberates us in many ways from the force of gravity, drawing us out of the dull captivity of daily life. At the sight of the truly beautiful we are freed from the tension that urges us on toward some immediate practical goal. We become contemplative, and this is immensely valuable. We expand, and even our soul itself becomes more beautiful when beauty comes to meet us, takes hold of us, and fires us with enthusiasm. [...] Let me affirm unambiguously that beauty does in fact have an ennobling effect.”
This is the kind of beauty we need – beauty that has an ennobling effect on us because it has some moral content. Nobody wants to suffer, and this is normal and reasonable. But there is no good story without suffering because suffering and how we respond to it is the basis for meaning. Stories, then, are a help toward understanding this. A beautiful story is not a story without suffering; it is a story where, to borrow a phrase of Lorenzo Albacete, “the drama of suffering [is transformed] into a drama of love.”
We need stories to help us realize and remember that this is the nature and structure of human life, and that this corresponds to both our longings and our limits.
7. You have a fascinating bio that includes politics and philosophy, viral videos and advocacy. What do you see as the golden thread that has woven together this interesting career path?
Growing up in a Jewish-Catholic family, I was raised with a significant interest in Holocaust education and remembrance. When I was 18, I travelled on a Holocaust study trip to Germany and Poland with sixty students and two Holocaust survivors. It was during this trip that our guide told us, “Dehumanization is at the core of genocide.” That led to me reflect and to ask myself privately, “If dehumanization is at the core of genocide, then what does it mean to humanize humanity? What’s the opposite, and how can I participate in that?”
These questions have guided my entire trajectory ever since and, I would say, constitute that thread of my existence.
8. I think you’re the first person I’ve encountered who *checks notes* lived in Rome to study the resurrection of the dead in the Jewish tradition? How did you land there and what was a big learning from that time?
After working in politics for a few years, I began to discern the next right thing. On Facebook, I saw an ad promoting a new Licentiate program in Judaic Studies and Jewish-Christian Relations. Immediately, I had the sense that this was for me. Before I had even applied, I knew I would take up this topic of the resurrection of the dead throughout Jewish tradition and the significance of believing in bodily resurrection to contemporary bioethical topics.
Early on, I was fascinated by a line I’d read by Pinchas Lapide who said, “If we were to ask [the rabbis] for an aphorism which in laconic brevity would do justice to their world view, they perhaps would say: Not believing in death as the final conclusion is the father of all life affirmation.”
One might think people who think that this life is all there is would be the most zealous to protect it. But, paradoxically, it is usually those who believe in an afterlife who are more pro-life in this world. I very much enjoyed exploring how beliefs about the afterlife impact ethics in this life.
I also found it interesting to consider the ways in which the belief that God resurrects the dead brings to bear on our entire understanding of the nature and character of God and man.
9. When people talk about healthcare in Canada, one of the first things you hear is how hard it is to get a doctor. I think we have a strange relationship with healthcare providers: they’re heroes; they’re villains; we’re frustrated with them because of wait times and the barriers our system creates to access; we expect them to know pretty much everything. They’re also just human beings.
[Forgive the long lead-in…] In your work with Canadian Physicians for Life, what have you noticed about doctors as they themselves grapple with our medical system and the complexities of life and death within the health regime?
Yes, you do well to highlight the heights and the depths here. There are reasons why our system is regarded as so attractive but there are also major failings. Probably every Canadian knows someone who would not be alive and flourishing if not for the excellent healthcare they received in our country. Yet, it is truly scandalous how many Canadians presently lack access to a family doctor and how often the exorbitantly long wait times lead to dangerously delayed diagnoses and interventions.
Still, the vocation of medicine is a noble one and, as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, “The doctor is a major source of moral energy affecting the spiritual texture and substance of the entire society.”
It is a great joy to work with Canadian Physicians for Life. The medical and nursing students, residents, physicians, nurses, and midwives in this community all give me great hope. To learn more about the conferences, bioethics symposia, and other programming offered by Canadian Physicians for Life and to join the email list, which is open to all, visit the website.
10. You’re very vocal on X and your posts get a lot of traction and attention. What advice do you have for content creators and advocates who want to get their message out on the platform (who might be intimidated by venturing there)?
Don’t use autocorrect, spellcheck, or predictive text! In all seriousness, I am a big believer that putting forward content that is genuinely unique and imaginative such that it could not possibly have been AI-generated will go a long way to humanizing our conversations online.
Our world is hungry for real stories and personal insights, and contributing these in the public square can both set you apart and enable your capacity to benefit others.
Bonus Q: What books or podcasts are you consuming right now that you just can't get enough of?
I want to give a shout out to Travis and Rigel for their podcast Coffee, Commerce & Catechesis which is a podcast covering topics related to Christianity, the modern world, technology, politics, work, social and family issues, and more. I’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, so it was great to be invited on as a recent guest!
Two books I enjoyed recently are about young men who died early in life but who lived ordinary lives of heroic virtue. One of these titled, A Saint in Sneakers, is about Carlo Acutis, the first millennial set to become a canonized saint in the Catholic Church and the other a biography of Pedro Ballester who died of cancer at age 21 and whose biography is titled, I’ve Never Been Happier. Such examples of living and dying well have the capacity to give our own lives greater direction and inspiration by helping us to clarify what is essential.
About Amanda Achtman
Amanda Achtman studied political science in her hometown of Calgary, Alberta; the life and legacy of John Paul II in Lublin, Poland; and, the resurrection of the dead throughout Jewish tradition in Rome, Italy. In Toronto and Ottawa, she did a mix of journalism, crowdfunding, politics, filmmaking, advocacy, and events addressing some of the most pressing and underserved issues of our day. Currently, Amanda is especially focused on preventing euthanasia and encouraging hope.
Subscribe to her Substack
and follow her on X.
I am a spiritual writer, an elder, and a person with a disability. I am very happy to be alive, but I can easily imagine situations where I would like the option to end my life, and I fully support the right to end our own lives at a time of our own choosing in a medically comfortable way. I wish the US laws permitting this were broader, as they are in Canada. We've had right to die here in Oregon since 1994 for people who are terminally ill. It seems absurdly cruel to me that adults who want to end their lives for rational reasons cannot do it in a medically reliable and comfortable way. We treat our beloved pets with more compassion than we do our fellow humans in this regard. The opposition to physician-assisted dying most often comes from religious and disability groups. Speaking as a spiritual person with a disability, I see nothing in these laws that threatens people with disabilities or that in any way encourages us to end our lives. And my own sense of the sacred in no way forbids ending our lives at a time of our own choosing in order to spare ourselves or others unnecessary suffering and hardship. I wish the religious fundamentalists would stop imposing their beliefs on the rest of civil society, and I wish people who have reservations or fears about physician-assisted dying would see the excellent documentary "How to Die in Oregon": http://www.howtodieinoregon.com.
I have been with family members (as primary caregivers) who have died with dignity naturally. My husband, who had ALS, spoke with his Doctor at the clinic who was adamantly against any sort of intervention. Dr. Bedlack, rightly so, saw his patients as valuable members of society. We both have (had) DNRs, as that is a natural death if allowed to go through to it's natural conclusion, but at the age of 70 I'm a bit wary of traveling to Canada now should anything happen to me. (I live in the southern U.S. and for a long time spent my summers near Sudbury.) My aunt, who was a contemplative nun, over 40 years ago, referred to abortion as the "coming euthanasia. " I think she has been proven correct. What a fascinating article. Thank you.