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.
Over 1,100 Physicians Sign Petition Opposing Assisted Dying Bill
Over 1,100 physicians have signed a petition opposing Canada’s new medically assisted dying bill, saying the proposed legislation changes the nature of their profession and its removal of safeguards will lead to an increase in “coerced or tragically unconsidered deaths.”
“This bill, expanding “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) to virtually everyone who is sick and suffering in Canada, will, if passed in its current form, make our country the world leader in administering death,” reads the joint statement accompanying the petition.
“As medical doctors, we feel compelled to voice our dismay at how individuals who have little lived experience of the realities involved in the everyday practice of medicine suddenly and fundamentally changed the nature of medicine by decriminalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide.”
TORONTO The agony that Cheryl Romaire lives with is so debilitating that some days, she feels her body “might actually just physically die from the pain.” Marie not her real name also lives with multiple disabilities, pain, nerve degeneration, neuropathy, and has trouble walking and standing. Both are fighting a life-and-death battle over a bill that will change Canada’s assisted dying laws but from opposing positions. Ottawa was granted a third extension to address the changes in Bill C-7, with the new deadline set for Feb. 26, 2021 by which time the federal government will be required to adjust their laws to match those in Quebec: the proposed changes will make it easier for people with untreatable health problems to apply for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), even if their conditions are not terminal. But lawmakers are struggling to get the details of the bill right.