Hey Andrea,
Yeah, it’s not just you. An article published in the Southern Medical Journal found that rates of all suicides increased in jurisdictions were assisted suicide and euthanasia were legalized. I wrote about it here:
Under Bill C-14, people in Attawapiskat who meet the criteria provided in Bill C-14 will be able to request suicide assistance and end their lives. The argument may be made that few of those suicidal in Attawapiskat would qualify for assisted suicide or euthanasia under Bill C-14. However, as the study in the October edition of the Southern Medical Journal demonstrates, general suicide rates increase, not decrease, after legalization. Overall, there has been an average of a 6.3 per cent increase in suicides (assisted and unassisted) among the states where assisted suicide was legalized.
(You mean you don’t memorize everything I publish? Unbreak my heart, Andrea. Unbreak my heart.)
Maybe we should let the Globe and Mail know. Sigh.
by 
Hi Faye and Andrea,
Thank you for opening up this conversation! I’ve been noticing the bizarre headlines for months, as we promote C-14 in one column and panic about youth suicide in the next. However, I’ve been having trouble with the statistic that overall suicides go up when assisted suicide is legalized. Let’s imagine we live in a place that normally has 50 suicides. After AS we have 50 suicides and 50 assisted suicides. Won’t the pro-AS folks just say, “well, we’re still against the 50 suicides that were obviously made in a period of despair, but that doesn’t mean the 50 AS are a bad thing.”
Did I misunderstand the stat? Are the number of unassisted suicides going up? Or is it just the combined number that increases?
I always hesitate to use stats because they can be so slippery. Just want to make sure I understand this one correctly!
Mary