Assisted Suicide: Legalize First, Ask Questions Later
Commentary
In 2021, Parliament set up a special committee of MPs and senators to study the issue of “medical assistance in dying” (or MAiD) and to make recommendations to Parliament. The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying released its “Choices for Canadians” report on Feb. 15.
The committee recommends expanding MAiD further, even though Canada’s existing MAID regime has major problems. Canada already has one of the most permissive euthanasia regimes in the world and has failed to protect vulnerable Canadians. Further expansion will only exacerbate the problems.
The committee addressed three areas for expansion: MAiD where a mental disorder is the sole underlying medical condition, MAiD for “mature minors” (i.e. older children), and MAiD by advance request—meaning that a person can ask now to be euthanized later, when they have lost the capacity to give consent….