Canadian woman dying from ALS rejects euthanasia, says ‘gift’ of life is in God’s hands
Kirsten MacDonald calls for people to pray for doctors and nurses who perform euthanasia and says the ‘God of Justice’ clearly laid out a ‘blueprint for moral conduct’ that murder is murder.
(LifeSiteNews) — Pro-life Canadian Kirsten MacDonald, who is dying from debilitating Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, said that she fights every day for life because it’s up to “God” and not herself to determine when she dies. She called for prayers for those performing euthanasia.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, MacDonald has been suffering from ALS for more than two years and has lost control of the muscles in her arms and legs as well as her voice and swallowing.
A LifeFunder was started for MacDonald with her husband David, who is a friend of LifeSiteNews. In a recent update, David noted how his wife is “still here” and “continues to defy the prognosis in the euthanasia-oriented Canadian medical system.”
“She is in good spirits even though her disease continues to progress, and she has no use of her muscles, mouth, etc. Her mind is still working 100% and she is an intercessory prayer warrior,” he wrote.
David noted how his wife, whom he married while they were both in their 40s, is still able to communicate with an eye-tracking computer. While Kirsten was in her late 40s, the couple was blessed with daughter Adessa, who is now 8 years old.
In an recent blog update, Kirsten said she will fight to the end for “life” because it is what God wills of his people despite having a recent “dark day.”
“It’s taken many hours across numerous weeks to type this newsletter. God willing, there’ll be another one if my eyes hold out!” she wrote.
“I had a dark day, Saturday, a couple of weeks ago. I couldn’t take anymore, was done with my situation, and its all-encompassing ramifications, a crying mess. I just wanted to die, end it all. The last time that happened was about 10 months ago.”
Kirsten was read a work by moral theologian Germain Grisez by her husband, titled is it wrong to wish for death? She recounted how this helped her “immensely, giving a fresh perspective, and another reminder that I have more work to do here on earth.”
“Yes, it is wrong to wish for death, but we can long for heaven. So, I continue to trust Him, and try to buckle down for the long haul, offering up my sufferings for priests and humanity,” she wrote. “As a Christian, I know intuitively that life is important, that it is a sacred gift to be treasured, by virtue of being created in the image of a loving God who laid down His life for me. He will determine how and when I go, not me. I pray Jesus will sustain all of us through this suffering.”
For many years, David wrote and sang the theme song at the Canadian National March for Life, and in his former life was a Cats Broadway actor. His story, one of redemption and forgiveness in finding Christ after living a life of sin, can be read here.
He is hoping that the LifeFunder for Kirsten can reach its goal, which has just been increased from $15,000 to $25,000 to meet ongoing expenses relating to home care.
As per the LifeFunder, the health care system in Canada is “unable to provide them with a level of care that is sustainable and so David has had to put his business on pilot light and has been turning down clients to take care of Kirsten and their 8-year-old homeschooled daughter.”
Also, the family has had to hire private help so as “not to burn out on the 24-hour care that is required.”
David noted in the update how he and his wife have had “honest conversations” with their daughter about her condition.
“She understands that we could lose mommy and seems well adjusted, so far,” David wrote.
“We pray God is successful with our little family mission of keeping the faith and spreading the faith.”
Pro-life witness says Canadians need to ‘pray’ for doctors and nurses performing euthanasia
Kirsten noted in her blog update how while she is blessed with in-home care provided by the provincial government. Many jurisdictions in Canada “just don’t have the resources to offer this type of care, so those requiring it are forced to make difficult decisions.”
She noted how people must resort to “long-term care, which, essentially, will just hasten one’s death through food/water deprivation (personal experience with each of our parents), or hire private care if they have the means … or many resort to MAiD (medical assistance in dying/euthanasia).”
She said when it comes to MAiD, people must “pray for doctors and assisting nurses who perform” it.
“A loving God, but also a God of justice, laid out the blueprint for moral conduct. ‘Thou shalt not kill’ is pretty clear. May God have mercy,” Kirsten wrote.
She also stated how she really “detests” hearing people speak of MAiD as something “beautiful” or that it is somehow humane or compassionate, “especially coming from a doctor who does the dirty deed.”
“Their profession takes the Hippocratic oath as its creed. They promised to help their patients. Not kill them,” she wrote.
“Their declaration that it is humane and compassionate is false. The doctor doesn’t know what occurs in the body into which they have injected numerous syringes until they feel no pulse. Pharmaceutical companies don’t make dosages designed for death. High dosages are used in MAiD. There are no studies on how these drugs act at high dosages.”
In Canada, MAiD became legal in 2016 and was one of the federal governments of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first major acts after taking power.
When it comes to MAiD, Trudeau’s Liberal government sought to expand it from the chronically and terminally ill to those suffering solely from mental illness.
However, in February, 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.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, some provincial governments are fighting back against Trudeau’s expansion of legal assisted suicide.
The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection under the nation’s MAiD program since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.
Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023.
Please consider supporting Kirsten and her family via the LifeFunder.
