A transgender Canadian is seeking medically assisted suicide after suffering from “severe mental anguish” for several decades, at one point creating a bomb to harm police that was originally meant for suicide, according to California news outlet Bay Today.
Canada’s Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) program reported 10,064 deaths in 2021, accounting for 3.3% of deaths in the country. Canada recently postponed the expansion of its criteria for MAID until March 2024, at which point people whose sole symptom is mental illness will be able to access a medical professional who can assist in their death. The government cited a need to give provinces in Canada more time to gather necessary resources for MAID assessors before implementing the expanded criteria. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Democrat Candidate Claimed Assisted Suicide Could Be ‘Proper And Ethical’ For Terminally Ill Children)
Before Ryan Skillen, 44, transitioned to present as a woman named Savannah Meadows, Skillen created a bomb with which to commit suicide following a dispute with a family member, according to Bay Today. While carrying it around in a shopping bag, Skillen allegedly decided to harm the police instead. But the bomb was triggered during Skillen’s walk to the police station, causing an explosion that left shrapnel in Skillen’s leg and two severed fingers. Skillen received an 18-month prison sentence in February 2003 and was ordered to seek psychiatric help, the outlet reported.
“I would then spend the next 10 years going through my transition from male to female, including getting both breast augmentation and vaginoplasty surgeries,” Skillen told Bay Today. “Sadly, none of this did anything to help reduce the ever-constant, ever-growing pain inside me. Like a volcano exploding and spewing lava and rocks in all directions, my anger and my rage often explodes on very undeserving people.”
“I live with such deep remorse and guilt over all the people I’ve hurt in my life with my words or actions. This craziness hasn’t been without serious consequences. I blew off half my hand. I’ve been in and out of jail many times,” Skillen added, according to the outlet.
‘I must be destroyed:’ Transgender woman seeks medically assisted death https://t.co/2obIGEj11l
— BayToday (@NorthBayToday) February 6, 2023
Skillen’s mother, Sharon Turcott, reportedly supports Skillen’s decision to be euthanized. She created the group Dying On My Terms in support of the practice, according to Bay Today.
“My advocacy starts with her and did even when she was a he and she nearly blew herself up,” Turcott told the outlet. “I absolutely do not want Savannah to die, but the flip side of the coin is she is in pain every single day. As a parent, do I want to see that? The answer is no.”
Skillen reportedly receives an income from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
“I live a parasitic lifestyle, which I’m not proud of. I depend on others for my survival. I lean on them like I had a broken leg and they were my crutches.”
Skillen is waiting for those who suffer from mental illness to become eligible for MAID in March 2024, according to the outlet.
“My only focus now is reaching the MAID finish line and I truly hope the government doesn’t move the goalposts,” Skillen told Bay Today.
Another Canadian, who goes by the name “Duchess Lois” on Twitter, said in January he is seeking to die under Canada’s MAID program after a series of sex change surgeries allegedly left him sterilized and without faith in the country’s medical system.