I canāt dispute this personās story But I have personally known someone who chose medical assistance in dying (MAID) and Iāve heard of others from people I know. There was no coercion in any of those cases. The people choosing MAID wanted to end their own suffering on their terms.
Another person close to me who is in a nursing home at age 71 because she can no longer move herself from her wheelchair has looked into MAID and found she does not meet the criteria.
Of course itās necessary to protect people from others making the decision for them or coercing them into it. But thatās no reason to make it unavailable to the many who want to use it to die with dignity when thereās no hope of recovery, and harsh suffering ahead of them.
As for abortion, those who donāt want it, donāt do it. And hands off those who do want it. Itās their choice.
Is there any financial incentive in Canada for hospitals or others to carry out āMAIDā?
A good question, @PatB. Goes beyond Canada.
Redefining deathā¦
The Hidden Crisis in Organ Transplantation ā Brain Death Diagnosis and Ethical Failures
Though the story appears under the Mercola framework the analysis is by the much respected though anonymous āMidWestern Doctorā
Itās a difficult one to read. I myself would agree with @JackieL in principle, and believe people should in general have autonomy over their own deaths. Irrespective of anyone elseās religious beliefs.
But what happens when itās run and even taken over by vested interests? You can probably guessā¦
As I say itās a difficult readā¦
Thanks @LocalYokel for raising the issue.
ED
The Hidden Crisis in Organ Transplantation ā Brain Death Diagnosis and Ethical Failures
Analysis by A Midwestern Doctor
Story at-a-glance
The concept of ābrain death,ā introduced in 1968 to enable organ harvesting, has never been proven equivalent to actual death ā it merely defines an irreversible coma
Documented cases exist of ābrain deadā patients who were conscious, including some who mouthed āhelp meā as their organs were nearly harvested
Global organ shortages have fueled a black market, with an estimated 5% to 20% of transplants involving illegal procurement and added pressure to lower diagnostic standards for ābrain deathā
Recent federal investigations found serious failures in the U.S. organ donation system: 29.3% of reviewed cases showed troubling signs, and 20.8% of patients had neurologic activity incompatible with procurement ā yet transplant coordinators still pushed to proceed
Safer, ethical alternatives exist ā such as natural therapies like DMSO that have revived ābrain deadā patients and restored organ function, removing the need for transplant
(Analysis continuesā¦)
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/09/12/organ-transplant-brain-death-diagnosis-ethical-failures.aspx
Do you know the source of this publication?
Iām not comfortable with this practice of posting untraceable disembodied headlines and snippets of this and that. Itās no way to debate.
I apologize for taking so long to respond to this, PatB. In Canada, MAiD is considered a medical procedure and is covered by the national health care program. There is no more incentive to carry out MAiD than there is to provide dialysis or any other basic health service.
Hereās the govāt website about it, if anyone is interested in details.
Hereās the website for the Canadian Assoc of MaiD Assessors and Providers.
@LocalYokel 's link is here
Canadian Government Has Now Euthanized 90,000 Citizens with āAssisted Suicideā Program
No doubt many or most are legit. There are true stories like this:
Canadian Woman with Cerebral Palsy Bullied by Doctors for Refusing Euthanasia, Called āSelfishā
"In addition to the alleged 2019 incidents, Hancock says she has been routinely encouraged to end her life via euthanasia.
She revealed that she feels reluctant to seek advice from medical professionals due to the consistent efforts to railroad her into being euthanized.
Hancock says she has been encouraged to take MAiD on three separate occasions since Canada launched its euthanasia program in 2016.
Doctors and nurses have repeatedly suggested that sheās a burden because she has cerebral palsy."
I guess there are people with fascistic views on āexpensiveā patients even in the medical profession. But there is more than a hint that MAID was introduced with more than human dignity in mind. Eg (as shown in the screenshot in Local Yokelās link), senators pushing MAID for āMature minorsā sends shivers down my spine, even though I would support MAID with suitable controls and in the absence of sinister political hijacking.
Well, on that we agree. Iām certainly not in favour of ending the lives of people who want to live (that would be murder). And I do understand that people who rely on others to enable them to live could feel threatened or targetted by the legality of MAiD. That doesnāt prove that they are threatened or targetted, which would be horrible and absolutely wrong.
Thanks for the link. A quick perusal of the SLAY site shows me that itās not a source I would consider reliable; I think itās biased in the extreme. (On the other hand, my sister would love it. Different strokes, etc.)
I do wonder why a US publication is so concerned about MAiD in Canada. I doubt itās because they care about the sanctity of life. I donāt see any opinion pieces there condemning the US for extrajudicial killings in intāl waters or condemning Israel for its treatment of the Palestinian people or condemning the policy of grabbing people off US streets and sending them to countries that they have no connection to, without charge or trial.
If there have been 90,000 deaths under MAiD, thatās not necessarily a bad thing. It indicates that 90,000 people were not forced to suffer needlessly against their wishes. Over 9 years, itās about 10,000 per year. About 80,000 people died of cancer in Canada in 2023 alone.
This SLAY article suggests that people are being forced or cajoled into MAiD so that their organs can be harvested. It seems to me that many or most of the people who would choose MAiD would also choose to donate their organs if possible because choosing MAiD indicates a certain way of looking at life. That is, being more concerned about quality than length of life.