Posts Tagged ‘medical assistance in death’

Federal government should prioritize moving MAID back up its legislative agenda

June 25th, 2020 by Celia Chandler

This article was first published on rabble.ca

Think back.

March 13, 2020.

While many of us moved our offices to our homes, scrambled to figure out how to school our children, fought for scarce toilet paper and Lysol, and started to get used to a completely different way of living, the government released its “What We Heard Report A Public Consultations on Medical Assistance in Dying.” The report resulted from a 14 day window in January when Canadians commented online about the medical assistance in dying law in Canada (called MAID).

Regular rabble.ca readers will know that I wrote a three-part series about the legalization of MAID and its implementation from my first-hand experience: my husband, Jack, died with medical assistance in November 2018.

The federal government legalized MAID in 2016. You’ll know from my account and those of many others, that the MAID law is not without its critics because of those excluded from the legislation: mature minors; those wanting to make “advance requests”; those whose only medical condition is mental illness; and those with physical illness but for whom death is not reasonably foreseeable. The Council of Canadian Academies has studied and reported on the first three of these issues.

Continue reading “Federal government should prioritize moving MAID back up its legislative agenda”

Client Profile: Assisted‑Dying Resources Centres Canada

June 19th, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Logo for Assisted-Dying Resource Centres Canada
Following the Supreme Court of Canada’s Carter decision in 2015, Canadians acquired a right to receive medical assistance in death (MAiD). Legislation came into force in June 2016 amending the Criminal Code to allow MAiD in limited circumstances. Since then, thousands have exercised this right – many in their own homes, others in hospitals, and still others in other kinds of institutions.

For some, though, where to receive medical assistance in death is a needless stress. Homeless patients who might otherwise be eligible cannot exercise this right because shelters do not allow it; many hospices have policies that prevent patients from having medically assisted deaths; some nursing homes and retirement homes – especially faith based ones – have said “no” to MAiD; and finally, some patents prefer not to die in their own homes because of the memories it may leave for their loved ones. Continue reading “Client Profile: Assisted‑Dying Resources Centres Canada”

Medically assisted death in Canada: Reflections on the process

January 31st, 2019 by Celia Chandler

Celia Chandler with her partner Jack Sikorski in 2018. Photo: Kate O’Connor/Sweetheart Empire

Iler Campbell’s Pro Bono column for rabble.ca (where this article was first published in three parts) is no stranger to the issue of medical assistance in death (MAID). We have contributed to the discussion a number of times in the last four years.

What is new is that I can now provide a firsthand account of a medically assisted death. At 6 p.m. on Monday, November 19, 2018, surrounded by his closest family, my husband, Jack Sikorski, consented to a medically assisted death. Jack’s cancer had progressed and his quality of life was greatly diminished; he was grateful for the choice to prevent further suffering and die on his own terms, as he had lived. And I am profoundly grateful, too.

Continue reading “Medically assisted death in Canada: Reflections on the process”

Carter & Assisted Suicide: Where We Stand One Year Later

March 2nd, 2016 by Safia Lakhani

This article was first published on the Ontario Bar Association’s website. It is an update to an earlier article which was first published on Rabble.ca.

February 6, 2016 marked one year since the Supreme Court released its ruling in Carter v. Canada, 2015 SCC 5. That decision struck down the constitutionality of Sections 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code, which prohibit assisted suicide, on the basis that they infringed on the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, and the right to equal protection under the law, in a manner that could not be justified under Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Carter was a departure from the Court’s earlier ruling in Rodriguez, in which the provisions prohibiting assisted suicide were found to violate the individuals’ right to life, liberty and security, but in a manner that was justified under Section 1 of the Charter.

Continue reading “Carter & Assisted Suicide: Where We Stand One Year Later”

The state of assisted-dying legislation after Carter

December 7th, 2015 by Safia Lakhani

This post was first published on rabble.ca

On November 13, 2015, newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau provided his Minister of Justice, Jodi Wilson-Raybould, with a mandate letter. First on the list of priorities is that Ms. Wilson-Raybould “lead a process, supported by the Minister of Health, to work with provinces and territories to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada decision regarding physician-assisted death.”

It has been nine months since the Supreme Court released its ruling in Carter v. Canada, 2015 SCC 5, striking down the constitutionality of Sections 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code which prohibit physician-assisted suicide. The Court in Carter departed from the 1993 ruling in Rodriguez, which also dealt with the issue of physician-assisted suicide. In that case, the Court found that the provisions prohibiting physician-assisted suicide violated the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, but in a manner that was justified under Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. By contrast, the Court in Carter found that the offending provisions of the Criminal Code infringed on the individual’s right to life, liberty and security, as well as the right to equal protection under the law in a manner that could not be justified. Continue reading “The state of assisted-dying legislation after Carter”

‘Whose body is this?’: The right to die with dignity revisited

January 29th, 2015 by Lauren Blumas

Over the holiday season a story out of Winnipeg grabbed the attention of the Canadian public. The story went something like this: an elderly woman fell in the home she shared with her middle‑aged son. She was injured in the fall and left unable to get up under her own power. Her son, apparently carrying out the wishes of his mother, did not call for emergency assistance and did not move her to bed. Instead, the 62‑year-old covered his mother with a blanket where she lay and provided her with food and water until she passed away several weeks later.

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