Will funeral homes become the venue for medically assisted death?
By my count, according to this website titled Compassion & Choices there are 10 states and the District of Columbia in the United States where Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) is legal. It is also legal in the province of Quebec in Canada where they have, according to this article, grown in the number of cases from 63 MAID deaths in 2015-2016 to 3,663 in 2021-2022.
And, in Quebec, at least one funeral home, according to this article from the Toronto Star, is offering space in its funeral home facility to help those who choose this process administer the process. The client family pays $700 for this service and following the procedure the funeral home prepares the body for burial according to one of the articles.
According to one of the articles, here are some thoughts from the manager of the funeral home:
“. . .providing the service involves holding many meetings and phone conversations with loved ones before the scheduled date to ensure everything goes smoothly. Even still, it comes with a heightened level of emotions that even he isn’t used to dealing with, despite growing up in a business that has been passed down through four generations. We’re all crying with the family. Many people don’t want to die at a hospital or in a long-term care home, where there may not be enough space or staff to provide a personalized experience. It is a very personal act that should be respected and done properly.. . . ”
One of the linked articles had this comment from a regulatory agency, “Sarah Bigras, a spokesperson for Quebec’s minister responsible for seniors, said the minister is looking into the legality of offering assisted dying services in a funeral home. Several questions may arise, and we will take the time to validate.”
Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily
Funeral Director Daily take: These articles leave a lot to think about. Is Medical Assistance in Dying something that may be able to be done in funeral homes better than at other locations?
One article mentioned that the family did not want the remembrance of their loved one dying in their living room. Another thought was that they didn’t want the remembrance being in a sterile hospital or nursing home.
I think it is an interesting concept. . . one I’m not so sure that I would have instituted in our funeral home though. But, every funeral home has different thoughts on issues like this. . . . and one must ask, “Who could assist in such a compassionate manner as funeral directors”.
However, on the other hand, if you are like me and have been a funeral director for a long time, you really start to understand the sanctity and preciousness of life as you help others mourn a death. I’m not so sure that I could get to the mental stage of being a part of Medical Assistance in Dying.
This may be an issue for funeral homes where I see discussion coming in the years, or maybe, the decades to come.
More news from the world of Death Care:
- Puppy to provide comfort to grieving families at Niagra funeral home. Niagra Falls Review (NY)
- Australia is running out of space to bury people. This may be the alternative. SBS News (Australia)
- Company says it is working to resolve issues at Sioux City cemetery. Sioux City Journal (IA)
- Local, state, federal leaders celebrate announcement of Lubbock veterans’ cemetery. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX)
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It’s easy to judge others until it is your loved one who has no life quality left. I applaud more open conversation about this subject.
Likely it will government funded and hospice corporations will own the funeral home
And by the way, a couple of things that the wolves in sheep’s clothing won’t tell you . . . self-murder is still murder . . . suicide survivors never really ‘heal’ . . . and that Margaret Sanger and Josef Goebbels dreamt that somehow this day would come . . . again.
Societies that have embraced eugenics [good creation] and euthanasia [good death] throughout history have done very well . . . until they haven’t.
God help us all.
Since we have both palliative care and hospice as part of our medical options when someone is at the end of their life, I find the phrase “Medical Assistance in Dying” troubling. For some time now, hospice has offered the assistance people seem to be looking for with the “medical assistance in dying.” If the difference is between someone who is terminally ill, in their last stages of life, that is hospice and certainly end-of-life compassionate care. If, on the other hand, this is used as a way of people ending their lives prematurely when they are not terminal or in the dying process, then the sanctity of life, in my belief, is being diminished greatly and this is troubling.
One of the most terrible entries you have posted. One more bit of evidence of how society is decaying. I do like your take on preciousness and sanctity of life. It is not just as an individual that I believe it is wrong but more importantly it is only God who can decide our time of demise. It is never our choice to begin or end life ever at any time.