Dear Friend,
In June 2016, doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia became legal in Canada for adults suffering unbearably from an incurable illness, disease or disability. To be eligible, they had to be in an “advanced state of irreversible decline” and their natural death had to be "reasonably foreseeable."
The EFC expressed strong opposition to all hastened death but argued for the strongest possible safeguards and limits on the practice in order to protect vulnerable Canadians and to try to minimize the harm of the legalized regime.
In March 2021, the federal government passed a bill that expands accessibility to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) and removes some of those critical safeguards. For example, eligible adults who are
not close to dying can now opt to cut their lives short through doctor-assisted suicide or euthanasia. This places Canadians living with disability or chronic illness at risk when too many already struggle to obtain adequate medical, social and other supports.
A special parliamentary committee of MPs and senators is tasked with reviewing the existing MAiD law. The committee will also consider whether mature minors should have access to doctor-assisted suicide and whether Canadians should be allowed to make advance requests.
The EFC cannot afford to be absent from these deliberations. They will forever change the assumptions our society holds about whose life is worth living and determine what our society considers to be acceptable grounds for ending someone’s life.
Mental Illness
Effective March 2023, eligible adults who are suffering solely from a mental illness may also request MAiD.
The EFC strongly opposes the expansion of MAiD to those with mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition. Individuals living with psychiatric conditions like depression, schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder already struggle with marginalization and obtaining the services and support needed to live well and to thrive. It would be unconscionable to offer suicide, rather than support, to such vulnerable individuals as a way to end their suffering.
Our health care system must adequately respond to the mental health needs of Canadians – which includes addressing the factors that contribute to poor mental health (such as poverty, homelessness and social isolation).
Advance Requests
Until recently, all patients who had been approved for assisted dying had to give their consent again, right before the lethal procedure. Now, a patient whose natural death is imminent can waive the requirement for giving final consent in certain circumstances.
Advocates of advance requests want the option to be able to describe a set of future conditions that, once met, would prompt the doctor to deliberately end their lives.
The ability to give consent just before MAiD is administered is a critical safeguard. Not only do people change their minds, but advance requests are not straightforward. What happens if the conditions for MAiD are met, but the patient wants to live and can no longer express their wishes? Medical providers would bear an even greater burden in having to make the final determination in these cases.
Mature Minors
Currently, only people over the age of 18 can request doctor-assisted suicide or euthanasia. However, those who are pushing to expand access to MAiD argue that eligibility should be based on maturity and competence, not age.
While mature minors currently have the right to refuse life-saving treatment, having the choice to let an illness run its course without any medical intervention is vastly different than the choice to deliberately cut their lives short.
The EFC strongly opposes expanding MAiD to mature minors. Youth may request MAiD in order to protect their families from financial or emotional distress. Allowing MAiD for mature minors might also normalize suicide among young people as an option for alleviating suffering.
The EFC believes every life has God-given honour and dignity. We will continue to defend the equal worth of all humans, regardless of age, ability, or health, and care for those who are vulnerable.
The EFC will make our concerns known to the committees studying these critical questions. We must have the strongest possible safeguards and supports for those who, in moments of isolation, discouragement or weakness, might consider ending their lives.
Will you help ensure that Canadians will never have to defend their right to live at the most vulnerable time in their lives? Will you please consider making a generous donation today? Thank you!
Sincerely,
Bruce Clemenger
President