Over half of Canadians are against the MAID law mental health expansion

More than half of Canadians have expressed that they don’t support the proposed changes to the law on Medical Assistance In Death (MAID), according to a new survey.

These changes were set include expanded eligibility for people suffering from “irremediable” underlying mental health illness, which was seen as a controversial move by many medical and civilian groups.

Earlier this month, federal Minister of Justice David Lametti announced that Canada was going to delay the changes by a year. They’ll be reconsidered in March 2024.

Just now, I tabled Bill C-39 in @OurCommons, which seeks to delay the expansion of MAID for those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness, until March 17, 2024. I’ll have more to say at our press conference at 11:45 am with Minister @Carolyn_Bennett.

— David Lametti (@DavidLametti) February 2, 2023

Health Canada describes MAID as “the administering by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner of a substance to a person, at their request, that causes their death; or the prescribing or providing by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner of a substance to a person, at their request, so that they may self-administer the substance and in doing so cause their own death.”

Last year in August, Health Canada revealed that the number of medically assisted deaths had gone up tremendously over five years.

The third annual report (2021) on medically assisted deaths showed that since 2016 — the year MAID was legalized — more and more people had been opting to end their lives of their own volition. Individuals have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for MAID.

In 2021, 10,064 Canadians died under MAID. This was a striking increase from 1,018 deaths in 2016.

Now, a survey from the Angus Reid Institute has put Canadians’ thoughts about looser MAID eligibility requirements in perspective.

Three in five Canadians (61%) said they support the current MAID law in Canada, which allows a patient to request the treatment under certain circumstances, but without facing foreseeable death. This “foreseeable death condition” was an essential part of the original criteria in 2016, but was deemed unconstitutional by court.

However, when it comes to the proposed mental health condition expansion, most Canadians aren’t convinced.

Only three in 10 (31%) say they’re supportive of MAID for irremediable mental illness. Fifty-one per cent are against it.

You might also like:
• Canadian medically assisted deaths increased nearly tenfold in five years
• "Planning to apply for MAID": Canadians share grim ways inflation has impacted them
• Doctor-assisted suicide could save Canada up to $139M each year, study finds

“Asked if they consider this a success, that Canadians are now controlling their end-of-life decisions, or a failure, that MAID may be overused or abused, Canadians are more inclined to see value in its availability,” reads Angus Reid’s report. “More than two in five (43%) say this, while one-quarter (25%) disagree and say this trend is a bad thing.”

The survey also found that 65% of Canadians believe all other treatment options should be tried and exhausted for an individual to consider MAID, and 24% disagree with this.

Two-thirds of survey participants said debilitating chronic pain is a solid reason to request MAID, but only less than a quarter think it’s appropriate for people dealing with mental health challenges.

Angus Reid also considered faith-based opinions and found that religiously committed Canadians opposed MAID access for all criteria.

“More than half of Canadians (55%) say they worry about MAID taking the place of improvements in social service,” Angus Reid said. “One in three (36%) are not concerned (36%).”

One-quarter of Canadians aged 54 and above worry that palliative care might be put on the back burner as MAID eligibility expands, but this is not a concern for the majority.

Last year in December, Daily Hive interviewed ordinary Canadians about the effect rising inflation had had on them. Some said they had been pushed to the brink and were considering ending their lives.

“My spouse and I are both disabled. We already live in deep poverty due to meager disability payments. Our rent takes up 68% of our income. In order to avoid becoming homeless, paying the rent is our first priority,” said 52-year-old Serena from Montreal told us. “We both worked and paid hefty taxes for decades. Now we are disabled and have lost everything. We eat one meal a day — usually canned beans…”

The couple had planned to request MAID in March 2023 due to these conditions.

Do you think MAID will help Canada’s healthcare system become more stable? What are your thoughts on the proposed mental health eligibility expansion? Will new changes push poor, disabled, and marginalized Canadians into the grinding mill?

Let us know in the comments.