Scheduled to Die: The Rise of Canada's Assisted Suicide Program(commonsense.news)
commonsense.news
Scheduled to Die: The Rise of Canada's Assisted Suicide Program
https://www.commonsense.news/p/scheduled-to-die-the-rise-of-canadas
6 comments
This brings up a problem I've seen with the Canadian system--it seems to be moving into a replacement for a decent welfare system.
If there is truly no way to fix the problem adequately I support MAiD. However, I'm hearing more and more of cases where finances are a big part of it--there are ways to improve their life but no money to pay for them because they're not medical treatments.
If there is truly no way to fix the problem adequately I support MAiD. However, I'm hearing more and more of cases where finances are a big part of it--there are ways to improve their life but no money to pay for them because they're not medical treatments.
Ah yes, deny people the right to die because we could make their lives better in principle. Assisted suicide is the messenger that tells us that we are otherwise failing these people. Without it, we would still fail them, but at least it wouldn't bother us so much.
> “While pretending to provide MAiD for an irremediable condition, we actually end up taking the lives of non-dying people—who could get better—for all sorts of other psychosocial suffering,” Gaind told me. “That’s not compassion.”
This is very much my objection! Feels very dystopian.
This is very much my objection! Feels very dystopian.
One of the issues I see with this sort of reasoning is that it fails to contend with the elephant in the room: people are commiting suicide. The major difference here is that it's occuring in a medical setting.
To clarify, if a person is suicidal and seeks MAID to end their life, they are electing to undergo a lengthy process to reach their chosen end. This differs drastically from a spur-of-the-moment decision to (for instance) leap from a tall building, in that it requires weeks of premeditiation and must still withstand a medical consultation. Many people who enact suicide and survive later express regret, and characterize it for varying reasons as a split moment decision, or even a sudden compulsion, rather than a long resolution. (I can find the study if anyone is interested).
If somebody truly wishes to die, they will find a way to die. We can (and should) certainly discuss providing people with better mental health services, and improving the quality of the lives of people who are dealing all manner of illnesses, but that won't change the fact that a certain percentage of people will choose obliteration rather than a continuation of their suffering.
To clarify, if a person is suicidal and seeks MAID to end their life, they are electing to undergo a lengthy process to reach their chosen end. This differs drastically from a spur-of-the-moment decision to (for instance) leap from a tall building, in that it requires weeks of premeditiation and must still withstand a medical consultation. Many people who enact suicide and survive later express regret, and characterize it for varying reasons as a split moment decision, or even a sudden compulsion, rather than a long resolution. (I can find the study if anyone is interested).
If somebody truly wishes to die, they will find a way to die. We can (and should) certainly discuss providing people with better mental health services, and improving the quality of the lives of people who are dealing all manner of illnesses, but that won't change the fact that a certain percentage of people will choose obliteration rather than a continuation of their suffering.
There are very real reasons why many who would vehemently disagree with that objection would be disinclined to voice that disagreement publically.
Government limits on both sides are never going to be right for everyone no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.
As an American adult living with chronic illness, I've viewed Canada as a nice vacation from Toronto to Vancouver, and now given MAID, a potential relocation target.
I admit the system isn't perfect, and MAID has the potential to split the country in half culturally and politically, but at least the conversation can happen at that level in Canada.
I can only imagine the conflict that would happen here in the US if we tried to have that conversation beyond non-profits like:
https://www.compassionandchoices.org/
Like my favorite Canadian, Neil Peart, I believe freedom may be the best solution we have to these problems. The need for palliative care is writ large now.
Thus, I can understand when people with chronic conditions choose an exit that, at least in Canda, is within reach for them, if more troubling for loved ones and care-givers who may not understand the choice of the individual given their attachment.
It's worth noting that the choice we're discussing here is literally, "give me liberty or give me death" - the paradox is that there is no liberty in suffering. In that sense, suffering alive may be far worse than death.
It's worth considering the words of Byung-Chul Han. Whether they play a role here or not, I've noticed that the healthcare system being a scene out of Gilliam's Brazil very likely plays a role in people's choice to exit the system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJh2g3I9KlM