LET THEM DIE – Canada has tabled a Drastic Expansion of Euthanasia in Canada

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

The amount of pain that someone must be in to want to take their own life is something that is a highly personal and complex one, often influenced by a range of physical, emotional, and social factors. When am speaking about taking one’s life, I am not speaking about suicide, I am speaking about Medical Assistance in Dying, otherwise known as euthanasia.

Euthanasia, including child euthanasia, is a complex and highly debated issue in Canada. The practice of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for adults was legalized in Canada in 2016, and in 2021, the Canadian government amended the law to allow eligible minors to access MAID with parental consent and court approval.

Opinions on child euthanasia vary widely among Canadians, with some supporting the right of minors to make end-of-life decisions and others opposing it on moral, ethical, and religious grounds. Some people believe that children who are suffering from terminal illness or unbearable pain should have the right to choose to end their lives, while others believe that the decision to end a child’s life should be made by parents and medical professionals.

A report by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) was tabled in the House of Commons on February 15^th, 2023 calling for a drastic expansion of euthanasia (MAID) in Canada. Among other recommendations, the report recommends that euthanasia be expanded to include children “mature minors.”

The report was supported by Liberal, NDP and Bloc-Quebecois members of the committee. The report gave 23 recommendations for actions by the government regarding euthanasia.

Recommendations 14 – 20 all involve the expansion of euthanasia in Canada to children (or as referred to in the report as “mature minors”):

Recommendation 14
That the Government of Canada undertake consultations with minors on the topic of MAID, including minors with terminal illnesses, minors with disabilities, minors in the child welfare system and Indigenous minors, within five years of the tabling of this report.

Recommendation 15
The Government of Canada provides funding through Health Canada and other relevant departments for research into the views and experiences of minors with respect to MAID, including minors with terminal illnesses, minors with disabilities, minors in the child welfare system and Indigenous minors, to be completed within five years of the tabling of this report.

Recommendation 16
The Government of Canada amended the eligibility criteria for MAID set out in the Criminal Code to include minors deemed to have the requisite decision-making capacity upon assessment.

Recommendation 17
The Government of Canada restricts MAID for mature minors to those whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable.

Recommendation 18
The Government of Canada works with provinces, territories and First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations to establish standards for assessing the capacity of mature minors seeking MAID.

Recommendation 19
The Government of Canada established a requirement that, where appropriate, the parents or guardians of a mature minor be consulted in the course of the assessment process for MAID, but that the will of a minor who is found to have the requisite decision-making capacity ultimately take priority.

Recommendation 20
That the Government of Canada appoint an independent expert panel to evaluate the Criminal Code provisions relating to MAID for mature minors within five years of the day on which those provisions receive Royal Assent, and that the panel report their findings to Parliament.

Majority of Canadian provinces allow mature minors to make decisions about their own care, including withdrawing or withholding life support. In Ontario a minor can provide consent for treatment or withdrawal of treatment if they understand the “reasonably foreseeable consequences” of their decision.

The report also included a dissenting opinion by members of the committee from the Conservative Party. In it, the Conservative members of the committee expressed their disapproval for the hasty and reckless way that the government has moved to expand MAID across Canada. They claim the government refused to put “Evidence ahead of ideology,” when they moved to expand MAID for situations where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition without first determining whether it could be implemented safely.

The Conservative members dissenting report did not approve child euthanasia, claiming “It would be irresponsible for the Liberal government to move ahead with any expansion of MAID for mature minors” and that “Conservatives do not support MAID for mature minors at this time.”

For some time, pressure to legalize child euthanasia has been gaining strength. In 2014 Belgium was the first country to legalize child euthanasia. In 2021 a report was brought to light about the practice of deliberate euthanasia to newborns whom the medical team considered had “No hope of a bearable future.” These practices concerned 10% of the neonates (0-1 year) who died in Flanders, between September 2016 and December 2017.

This practice is illegal in Belgium, yet no authority seems to take offense. The law only allows the euthanasia of a minor if he or she is capable of discerning, and conscious at the time of the request for euthanasia. In the Netherlands the government has launched a discussion about child euthanasia.

In 2018, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto stated that they were not only ready to do euthanasia on children, but their policy stated that a child should be able to die by euthanasia without the consent or knowledge of the parents.

A child with a serious medical condition needs love, care, and protection, not the message that their life is not valuable. A child doesn’t have the ability to consent to having their life ended by euthanasia. We owe our children hope even in the midst of difficult health conditions.

Overall, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as Canadians hold a wide range of beliefs and opinions on this sensitive and complex issue. It is important for individuals to engage in respectful and informed dialogue with each other, and to approach the issue with compassion and empathy for those who may be affected by it.

The question is, what are your thoughts about euthanasia? Is this something that you feel affects our community? Do you believe that a mature minor has the capability and capacity to make such a heavy decision?