The Problems With Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying Policy
Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying program seemed like a step forward for choice and dignity. But it is beginning to look like a dystopian end run around the cost of providing social welfare that can beat back the deprivations that make life unbearable.
Close-up of the hands of a nurse injecting a medicine for euthanasia into an elderly man on a hospital bed. (Aranga87 / Getty Images)
I always thought legalizing euthanasia was a no-brainer.
It seemed to me like an individual choice people ought to have, akin to legalizing abortion or same-sex marriage. If someone is in such pain that they decide to end their life, I thought, who are we as a society to tell them that they can’t?
There’s also a harm reduction component. If someone is dead set on ending their lives, shouldn’t we give them a relatively safe, effective option under medical supervision? It would be cruel not to.
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