In 2027, Canadians 18 years and older with mental illness who are deemed to meet age and other eligibility criteria could potentially access doctor-assisted death in Canada.
Articles on medical assistance in dying
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The narratives embedded in disability policy influence everything from budget priorities to program eligibility and institutional cultures. They also shape how disabled people imagine their futures.
Part of a eugenic logic is the ongoing belief that erasing disability and people with disabilities is a desirable and commonsense objective.
Recent reports from the Chief Coroner for Ontario reveal that Canada’s MAiD law, policy and practice focuses on promoting access to death, rather than protection.
Most workplace bereavement policies were designed prior to MAID and very few employers have adjusted these policies in light of the new reality of living and dying in Canada.
Bill C-7 has created ethical tensions between MAID providers and palliative care, between transparency and patient privacy, and between offering a dignified death rather than a dignified life.
Since 2016, Canada’s practice of offering MAID has followed a trajectory of ever-expanding eligibility. The ultimate expansion would make MAID available to anyone who wanted it, for any reason.
Canada’s planned expansion of MAID to mental illness is based on ignorance — if not outright disregard — of fundamental suicide prevention principles.
For people to access medical assistance in dying (MAID) requires health-care professionals willing to provide the service. The reasons health-care providers choose not to participate are important.
Research suggests that expanded access to MAiD tends to benefit people with wealth and privilege, offering them choices and autonomy. At the same time, it puts marginalized people at risk.
Palliative care is about living well and meeting patients’ goals, but referral can be more complex than access to medical assistance in dying (MAID). Palliative care should be as accessible as MAID.
The fundamental underpinning of all MAID requests is supposed to be the presence of an incurable medical condition, but it’s not possible to predict that a mental illness will not improve.
Expanding access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) to those not terminally ill puts vulnerable people at risk of feeling pressured into MAID, and doctors at risk of being forced to facilitate it.
Recent stories in the media highlight the idea of suicide tourism to Switzerland. But what does that mean? How is the Swiss view of assisted dying different from the Canadian one?
Top contributors
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Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
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Assistant Professor in Justice Studies, Royal Roads University
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PhD Candidate in Sociology and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar, Université de Montréal and Université de Lausanne, Université de Montréal
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Associate Professor, Business and Administration, University of Winnipeg
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Research Associate - Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge
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Assistant Professor, Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina
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Division Chair & Associate Professor of Palliative Medicine, Queen's University, Ontario
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Associate Professor, Public Health and Alberta Innovates Research Chair, University of Lethbridge
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Associate Adjunct Professor of Disability Ethics, John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of Alberta
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Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta
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Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Waterloo
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Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Lethbridge
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Professor of Health Law and Policy, University of Toronto
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Associate Professor, History, Mount Saint Vincent University
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Professor, Education, Mount Saint Vincent University