Canada is right to let people choose death when their living conditions make life intolerable, a new paper argues. Critics call it ‘a moral stain on our country’

The cases have drawn international criticism: People in Canada with non-terminal conditions choosing a doctor-assisted death after a fruitless search for better housing or proper medical care.

But a new paper by two University of Toronto bioethicists argues that, while the decisions may be “deeply tragic,” it would be wrong to deny medical assistance in dying (MAID) to people whose request is being driven most of all by poverty or other unjust conditions — “people who not only might, but have explicitly said” they would prefer not to die.

Not allowing MAID when circumstances show no short-term chance of improving would only cause further harm. According to an online survey by Research Co., half would agree to allow adults to seek MAID due to an inability to receive medical treatment (51 per cent) or a disability (50 per cent). Fewer than three-in-ten would support expanding assisted dying to include homelessness (28 per cent) or poverty (27 per cent).

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/canada-medical-aid-in-dying