As Britain continues to debate the legalisation of medically assisted suicide, The Atlantic has published an in depth look by author Elaina Plott Calabro at how such policy has played out in Canada, which legalised the procedure in 2016.
In Canada the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) programme now accounts for around five per cent of deaths, claiming more lives than diabetes and Alzheimer’s combined.
Such is the demand for assisted suicide that healthcare providers are struggling to maintain up with demand. The example of Canada seems to vindicate lots of the concerns voiced by those campaigning to maintain the procedure illegal in Britain.
Notably, the eligibility requirements have greatly expanded since 2016. Initially MAID was just for the terminally ailing. It was later expanded to incorporate those with serious but non life-threatening conditions.
In two years, the procedure shall be available to those with mental illnesses and there have been proposals to permit minors to commit suicide under the programme.
One key figure in The Atlantic piece is cancer psychiatrist Madeline Li. She is described as one of the influential doctors within the introduction of MAID but notes that the fact of the programme soon led her to have grave doubts.
Li told the story of a young man with “likely curable cancer” who was determined to undergo medically assisted suicide. He fulfilled the eligibility criteria and underwent the procedure.
As The Atlantic puts it: “He met the eligibility criteria as Li understood them. But the entire thing seemed incorrect to her … [and] she regretted her decision almost as soon because the man’s heart stopped beating.”
Li herself told The Atlantic, “What I’ve learned since is: Eligible doesn’t mean it’s best to provide MAID … You could be eligible since the law is so filled with holes, but that doesn’t mean it clinically is smart.”
Also of concern were cases where people opted for assisted suicide only to vary their mind, suggesting that at the least a few of those that died by the procedure might have chosen life given more time.
The article also confirms that those concerned that suicide will develop into easier and cheaper than proper medical or palliative care are valid.
Calabro writes, “Nearly half of all Canadians who’ve died by MAID viewed themselves as a burden on family and friends … it’s obscure MAID in such circumstances as a triumphant act of autonomy—as if the state, by facilitating death where it has failed to supply adequate resources to live, has by some means given its most vulnerable residents the dignity of selection.”
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