(LifeSiteNews) – Canada’s top pro-life and family group warned that beloved Canadian kids author Robert Munsch’s planned death by lethal injection is a “sad and tragic” type of “wake-up” call for the nation and shows just how “reckless” and easy it is for anyone to be approved to die by the grim procedure.
“The recent news that beloved children’s author, Robert Munsch, is choosing euthanasia because of dementia should wake us up,” Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) wrote Wednesday on X.
CLC noted that Munsch’s planned death shows the irresponsible nature of Canada’s legal euthanasia regime.
“The fact that he was actually approved shows just how ridiculous and reckless Canada’s approval process has become. What kind of message does that send to seniors, to families, to the vulnerable?” CLC wrote.
“Choosing assisted death for cognitive decline sends a dangerous message.”
CLC director of political operations Jack Fonseca, in an interview with LifeSiteNews, said that Munsch’s planned death by assisted suicide is a “sad and tragic revelation” from one of Canada’s “gifted and beloved children’s authors,” whom he said “should not become a mascot for Canada’s twisted euthanasia regime.”
“It’s so wrong that a treasured children’s author, known for fun, innocent, and wholesome stories that’ve entertained generations of children, is now having his life used to advance the culture of death in Canada and the USA,” Fonseca told LifeSiteNews.
Fonseca said that “Robert Munsch has become one more vehicle to normalize the culture of death” and parents should “think twice” about reading his works to their kids.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Munsch announced that he will end his life through euthanasia after being diagnosed with dementia.
Munsch, who is 80 years old, revealed the news in a September 14 interview with The New York Times. He confirmed that he has been approved for medical assistance in dying or (MAID), a euphemism for assisted suicide.
While Munsch was born in the United States, he moved to Canada in 1975 and quickly became a best-selling kids’ book author. At one point in his life, it was reported that he even considered the Catholic priesthood.
Assisted suicide was legalized by the Liberal government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016.
Under the current law, assisted suicide is prohibited for minors and the mentally ill. Activists, however, have been pushing for these expansions with varying degrees of success.
In 2021, the Trudeau government expanded euthanasia from killing only “terminally ill” patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify after the passage of Bill C-7. Since then, the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.
In February 2024, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups, as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
Bishop Joseph Strickland explained that “True compassion does not eliminate suffering by eliminating the one who suffers. Rather, it means walking with the sick and dying and offering authentic palliative care, emotional support, and spiritual accompaniment. It is in these moments – when we are most vulnerable – that we must be reminded that our worth is not measured by our health, our productivity, or our independence, but by the fact that we are beloved children of God who are made in His image and likeness.”
Euthanasia is the sixth-highest cause of death in Canada, but it was not listed in Statistics Canada’s top 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022.
As per a Health Canada note, in 2022, a total of 13,241 Canadians died by euthanasia or MAiD via lethal injections. When broken down, this means deaths by MAiD account for 4.1 percent of total deaths in Canada for that year, which is a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.
