Currently, a rising cause of death in Canada is emerging into the limelight: euthanasia. It is the fifth leading cause of death in the country, claiming the lives of over 15,000 Canadians in 2023. Putting that number into perspective, if the same proportion of Americans were euthanized, it would total to almost 150,000 citizens per year.
Due to new amendments to euthanasia laws, Canadians are now able to use euthanasia more liberally than ever before. Euthanasia, according to Canadian law, is intended to be used for cases of fatal diagnosis and unmanageable pain, but in practice it seems to be used for more than just those cases.
The Associated Press released a breakout report detailing cases in which euthanasia was used, garnering so much attention that the cases are now starting to be reevaluated. They wrote about a man who struggled with addiction, mental illness, and bowel disease, who was given euthanasia as an option upon his initial mental health assessment. He was picked up and euthanized shortly after. Another woman with a history of mental illness and physical illness requested to be and was euthanized because she was unable to find proper housing. Other cases consisted of grieving widows and those struggling with the little government assistance given to them. AP’s report also found that those that were euthanized in Ontario (the only province that provides post-death write-ups), should have received disability support from the Canadian government, but instead were offered euthanasia.
The program is called Medical Assistance In Dying (“MAID”), and on the official Canada government website it specifically states that “you do not need to have a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible for medical assistance in dying,” further going onto state that in 2027, you will able to be euthanized with only a mental health condition.
Reports have displayed that the doctors that are performing these procedures are struggling with the ramifications. Physicians are taking to private forums to address their concerns, noting that people they are being told to euthanize have the potential to be saved. They fear it is getting away from its intended purpose: to allow autonomy for those who are terminally ill and want to stop their suffering early.
Canada legalized euthanasia in 2016 to allow for these people to be laid to rest, and the bill was very popular when it was signed into law. In 2021, the government broadened the law to also include those with serious incurable, but not terminal, diseases to qualify, with a 90 day assessment period. More amendments have been made since, and as it stands as of 2027 the rules have become so lenient that only a mental illness is required to qualify.
In some provinces in Canada, the law requires doctors to inform or offer euthanasia to any patients who might qualify.
This policy has without a doubt been a great cause of debate in Canadian politics. Without substantial safeguards, and a worsening economic and housing crisis, this program has expanded to be 13 times its size since its inception. It is up to the lawmakers now to decide how they will proceed, and for the public to continue to rationalize its effects.
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