Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying (breachmedia.ca)

submitted 4 days ago by NightOwl@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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[-] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 1 points 4 days ago

Deciding not to kill people is not deciding who dies. If this is really a decision we needed to make then it seems odd that nearly every other country in the would gets on fine without making it.

I can see you making a case that it’s merciful, but we also need to acknowledge the potential for abuse that does occur. Like the case article mentioned: the woman who applied for MAiD because she couldnt afford affordable housing accommodations that met her needs. Would this really a mercy killing, or just killing off our most vulnerable because we can’t be bothered to help them?

[-] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 1 points 4 days ago

If you read my other comment in this thread it should be clear that I think MAID due to being poor is not acceptable at all. That’s a whole lot of failures all stacking up. It’s wrong and horrible.

Other countries do make these decisions. Usually they leave it to doctors to do in a sort of shadow and pretend it doesn’t happen and look the other way. There are other countries with MAID too.

[-] ageedizzle@piefed.ca 2 points 4 days ago

Other countries do make these decisions

Yes I know. I said nearly every other country does without it, but it is true that some countries do have similar programs.

If you read my other comment in this thread it should be clear that I think MAID due to being poor is not acceptable at all

In some ways then, you and I have very similar views. I guess one of our main differences is how much confidence we have in the current system to make it so that the poor are not disproportionately suffering as a consequence of MAiD. I don't trust our current system to do that. Our current healthcare system is already so broken, especially for the mentally ill, so there's a real danger that MAiD will be seen as a real alternative to proper healthcare. If we were in a place where we already had adequate care for people suffering from mental illnesses, then maybe we would be having a different discussion. But we are not there yet.