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Articles sur medical assistance in dying

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Current bereavement policies do not address the reality of employees with family members that have used, or are planning to use, medical assistance in dying (MAID) services. (Shutterstock)

Bereavement policies need to be updated to better support employees affected by MAID

Most workplace bereavement policies were designed prior to MAID and very few employers have adjusted these policies in light of the new reality of living and dying in Canada.
There is debate about whether a health-care worker can ethically participate in both palliative care and the MAID program. (Shutterstock)

MAID’s evolving ethical tensions: Does it make dying with dignity easier than living with dignity?

Bill C-7 has created ethical tensions between MAID providers and palliative care, between transparency and patient privacy, and between offering a dignified death rather than a dignified life.
Given how quickly MAID eligibility has changed in Canada in the past six years, it is time we take a step back to ask whether current MAID practice is still something we want to support. (Pexels/Karolina Grabowska)

As eligibility for MAID expands, the ethical implications of broad access to medically assisted death need a long, hard look

Since 2016, Canada’s practice of offering MAID has followed a trajectory of ever-expanding eligibility. The ultimate expansion would make MAID available to anyone who wanted it, for any reason.
The planned expansion of Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) law to include people with mental illnesses whose death is not imminent has been delayed, but not cancelled. (Shutterstock)

Canada delays expanding medical assistance in dying to include mental illness, but it’s still a policy built on quicksand

Canada’s planned expansion of MAID to mental illness is based on ignorance — if not outright disregard — of fundamental suicide prevention principles.
Several factors ranging from personal spiritual beliefs to patient relationships to medical legal issues can influence whether a health-care practitioner participates in providing medical assistance in dying (MAID). (Shutterstock)

Health-care providers and MAID: The reasons why some don’t offer medically assisted death

For people to access medical assistance in dying (MAID) requires health-care professionals willing to provide the service. The reasons health-care providers choose not to participate are important.
Bill C-7 seeks to expand access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) to people who are not terminally ill, including those who suffer solely from mental illness. (Pixabay)

Medical assistance in dying for mental illness ignores safeguards for vulnerable people

The fundamental underpinning of all MAID requests is supposed to be the presence of an incurable medical condition, but it’s not possible to predict that a mental illness will not improve.
Minister of Justice David Lametti gives a thumbs up as he rises to vote in favour of a motion on Bill C-7, medical assistance in dying, in the House of Commons on Dec. 10, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

A dangerous path: Why expanding access to medical assistance in dying keeps us up at night

Expanding access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) to those not terminally ill puts vulnerable people at risk of feeling pressured into MAID, and doctors at risk of being forced to facilitate it.
Australian scientist David Goodall photographed in Basel, Switzerland, on May 8, 2018 ended his life in with assisted suicide. (AP Photo/Jamey Keaten)

‘Suicide tourism’ and understanding the Swiss model of the right to die

Recent stories in the media highlight the idea of suicide tourism to Switzerland. But what does that mean? How is the Swiss view of assisted dying different from the Canadian one?

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