Jennyfer Hatch: “If I’m Not Able to Access Health Care, Am I Then Able to Access Death Care?”

Case reference: MAID-BC-2022-TRWB · British Columbia · Died by MAID · Recorded by the register as a MAID victim

Who she was

Jennyfer Hatch was 37 and lived in British Columbia. Her friends describe a woman who loved life. One told CBC News: “I’ll tell you she loved life. In an ideal world, she would have been here today.” In her final weeks she wanted to fill her days “with beauty, with nature and with connection,” and she did: blowing bubbles on the beach, playing music, sharing cake with friends in the forest near Tofino.

About ten years before she died, Hatch was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare inherited disorder of the connective tissue that can cause severe chronic pain and fragile skin and joints.

What happened

Hatch’s family doctor moved away, leaving her among the more than a million British Columbians without primary care. Her treatment turned into a string of specialist appointments with doctors who had no background in her condition, a pattern the National Post describes as “chaotic and ineffective.” In June 2022, she told CTV News under the pseudonym “Kat” that she was falling through the cracks.

Fraser Health approved her for MAID. She died on 23 October 2022. The next day, the Quebec retailer La Maison Simons released “All Is Beauty,” a short film about her last days, with a small Simons logo at the end. After CTV revealed that Hatch was “Kat,” the film drew criticism for leaving out her struggle to get care, and it was removed from the company’s promotional material.

Why they were pushed toward MAID

In her own account, it was the failure of her health care that led her to MAID. “I feel like I’m falling through the cracks so if I’m not able to access health care am I then able to access death care?” she told CTV. “And that’s what led me to look into MAID.”

Her MAID approval, quoted by the National Post, supports part of that account: “There were no other treatment recommendations or interventions that were suitable to the patient’s needs or to her financial constraints.” The system that could not find her a doctor did find her eligible for death. The approval itself names what she could afford as part of the reason.

What their family says

Her friends say Hatch chose MAID only after years of trying and failing to get proper care. Her friend Tama Recker said Hatch wanted to take part in the film to get people talking: “Our (health-care) system is very broken and part of what Jennyfer wanted to do is get people talking.”

Her friends also insist that choosing MAID did not mean she wanted to leave the world. As one put it to CBC, “In no way was [pursuing medical assistance in dying] her wanting to leave the world because she didn’t love living.”

What this case shows

Jennyfer Hatch’s death was presented to the public as a story of beauty. Behind it was a woman who could not get a family doctor, specialist care or treatment she could afford. Her case shows how easily MAID can be framed as a choice when it is actually the last option left after health care fails.

Sources

• National Post: Woman in pro-euthanasia commercial wanted to live, say friends
• CBC News: Why Quebec fashion retailer Simons is tackling medical aid in dying on its shopping website
• The Globe and Mail: Simons faces criticism for campaign highlighting medical assistance in dying
• The Washington Times: Canadian woman featured in medical-death advertisement had wanted to live