A 94-year-old Steinbach, Man., woman has stopped taking her heart medication and antibiotics in the hopes of hastening her death after she was refused medical assistance in dying, or MAID, earlier this year.
Marion Penner’s daughter Valerie Penner said her family had agreed years ago they were comfortable with using MAID, but when she sought information for her mother, it took several efforts with several doctors.
“A couple of the physicians that we had at Bethesda [Regional Health Centre in Steinbach], they made it clear that they were not comfortable with MAID,” said Valerie.
Marion still wishes to access MAID.
“What’s left of my age? A smooth, easy transition would be one big wish,” she said from her Vita hospital bed. She was moved to Vita & District Health Centre in mid-May after staying in her hometown Steinbach hospital since breaking her pelvis in December.
Marion’s conditions are chronic rather than imminent, which means two doctors or nurse practitioners are required to seek input from heart and kidney specialists under what the federal law calls Track 2 of MAID.
Valerie said Shared Health made it clear that would be difficult.
“I was also told that getting a specialist out to Steinbach even — good luck,” said Valerie Penner.
Marion Penner and her family’s difficulty accessing information on MAID now has a pro-choice group asking the province to repeal the Medical Assistance in Dying (Protection for Health Professionals and Others) Act.
Passed unanimously in 2017, the legislation says doctors are not required to answer patients who ask about MAID.
“It’s a mark of cruelty and trauma that’s inflicted on her,” said Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC) executive director Joyce Arthur.
“She’s having to resort to desperate methods like stopping her heart medication and antibiotics. She is forced to live in a hospital rather than a nice palliative care centre, far from home. So the law is actually punishing her. And it’s really, really unjust and really unfortunate,” she added.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara’s office responded to CBC’s question about ARCC’s suggestion the government repeal the 2017 law due to “belief-based care denial.”
“The Medical Assistance in Dying (Protection for Health Professionals and Others) Act remains in force in Manitoba. Regardless of where a patient first seeks care, Manitobans can access information about MAID and request connection to the provincial MAID program through Shared Health,” read a statement emailed on Asagwara’s behalf.
In March, CBC reported that Manitoba denies assisted dying at five times the national rate.
It’s the only province in the last reported year of 2024 to have MAID used fewer times after chronic illnesses were added to acceptable conditions for approval in 2021.
Manitoba has a total of 20 MAID assessors and providers, the fewest of any province outside of Prince Edward Island. Three work outside of Winnipeg.
A total of 17 Manitobans with chronic illnesses have accessed MAID through Track 2 since it became legal five years ago, according to Shared Health.
There were 1,817 patients with chronic conditions across Canada who used Track 2 to access MAID between 2021-2024, according to federal annual reports.
“In most cases, this expertise is provided by the specialist already involved in the patient’s care. Shared Health co-ordinates MAID services provincially and works with providers across Manitoba to support access to the assessments and clinical expertise required under federal law,” read Minister Asagwara’s statement.
When Marion was moved out of Steinbach’s Bethesda Regional Health Centre to Vita Hospital in mid-May, she was put on an 18-month waiting list for a care bed outside of a hospital.
Marion said she does not know anyone in Vita, 55 kilometres away from her home, and that most people she knows do not drive and cannot visit.
“Suddenly I found out that I was moving to a totally different facility, one that I was totally unfamiliar with and it all felt very strange, like I was just a piece in a game. Let’s put you here, no we’ll put you there. Ah, we’ll do it that way, no it will take a year instead etc., etc., until I was just totally confused,” said Marion.
She said she misses playing the piano she donated to Steinbach’s hospital from her former assisted living home.
“They took away the possibility of dying by her own choice. So now they plop her 40 miles away as a method of, ‘forget about that.’ That, to me, is not humane,” said Valerie.
Marion is hoping to get a wheelchair so someone can help her move out of the hospital bed.
For now, she looks forward to visits from anyone able to make the long drive.
Her daughter has cut back on the time she spends with her mental health practice in Minnesota where she lives, renting a place near Steinbach.
“I know my feeling of effectiveness has taken a hit, and also my effectiveness as the daughter, because sometimes I don’t want to come out here. And that’s not a good feeling,” said Valerie before helping her mother with the lunch a nurse brings in.
Marion is now only taking pain medication for the pain in her pelvis and infections.
“Just let nature do its thing and see what happens. And we have discussed this as a family, we’re in agreement on it. So that’s just what seemed logical,” said Marion.
