Canada performed thousands of same-day assisted suicides, as it was revealed one elderly woman was killed despite withdrawing her request the day before. 

The medical assistance in dying (MAiD) program was approved in 2016 and has since been expanded to include requests from patients whose deaths are 'not reasonably foreseeable,' and will soon include those with mental illness. 

More than 200 people in Ontario alone chose to die within 24 hours of their approval in 2023, a 2024 Ontario report found, The Free Press first reported. 

Of the 219 deaths, 30 percent of them chose a same-day procedure. 

In 2024 alone, across all of Canada, 16,500 people participated in the MAiD program, including a woman only identified as Mrs B. 

Mrs B had undergone a coronary artery bypass graft, which led to several medical complications afterward, including additional surgeries, forcing her to opt for a palliative care approach to treatment, the Ontario report said. 

The woman, who was in her 80s, later expressed to her family that she desired an assisted suicide. On her behalf, her spouse requested MAiD, and the following day, a MAiD practitioner assessed her eligibility. 

Mrs B told the practitioner that she wanted to withdraw her request after rethinking, citing religious and personal reasons, and that she'd like to continue with hospice care and palliative sedation, the report said. 

However, Mrs B ended up in hospital the next day, only to be released back home, but not before physicians noted her spouse had 'caregiver burnout.' A request was made on her behalf to have in-patient hospice care to help the spouse, but she was denied. 

The same day, her spouse contacted MAiD again and requested an urgent assessment. A different practitioner determined the elderly woman was eligible for the program, despite her withdrawing her request the day before. 

The practitioner, however, did not approve a same-day assisted suicide due to the 'drastic change in perspective' and the possibility of coercion. 

Despite the original evaluator wanting to speak with Mrs B again, it was denied due to the urgency of the request. A third person was sent to Mrs B's home, where she was once again approved. 

Hours later, the assisted suicide happened and Mrs B was killed.