this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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I know that I might get downvoted for saying this, but I think the UN is right on this one. We should stop expanding this program.
Am I the only one that thinks this is going too far? I thought it was generally considered a good thing that, if someone is suffering from suicide ideation, you talk them off the ledge. That's why we have suicide prevention programs, suicide hotlines, etc. This seems like a reversal of this attitude. It's saying, "oh, you're depressed, and you want to kill yourself? Okay, let's make that easier for you." This is not healthcare.
We also need to consider how this impacts marginalized communities, like for example Inuit communities in Nunavut, where suicide is considered a crisis .
I watched a documentary about MAID in Canada and in a European country (where they allow MAID for depression) for a philosophy of law class. One of the people in the story was a young woman who was in the process of applying for MAID because she was suicidal. By the end of the documentary she had been approved but had chosen not to go through with it yet. She was keeping her approval in her back pocket while attending counselling as provided to her by the process.
She said having the approval made her feel a lot better, like she was back in control of her life.
I think it’s important to design a process like this where you can always back out, and you always retain control.
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. This thread has triggered a lot of emotions and devolved into nastiness in some parts so it was refreshing to read something well put together and measured like this
I do disagree with you a bit. MAID isn't like a take-a-number system, I don't think it would be aiding impulsive suicidal thoughts. There is a doctor involved who should be on the hook for how and why the call to permit MAID is handled. That's not perfect though.
It would be aiding with suicidal thoughts, even if those thoughts are not necessarily impulsive
That's a good point, but I think it's where I think you need someone with intimate knowledge of the situation to decide.
To decide if the person should live or die?
Denying someone MAID is also deciding if the person should live or die. You just don't like the "or die" part of that decision.
You are correct. I don't trust people to decide when other people should die.
You are missing the point. You are doing that right now. You are deciding that they shouldn't die now, but later. You are deciding when other people should die.
By that logic I am deciding when an arbitrary number of people die by choosing not to kill them. I guess theres a sense in which thats technically correct, but it seems like its stretching the terminology a bit
Not at all. The default stance would be "I do not care one way or the other if someone has access to MAID."
By taking a stance against MAID, you are in fact deciding that they should not be able to die now. No one is asking you to personally do the killing, but you take umbrage with the idea that it would be accessible to people, so you are therefore deciding that they should be die now, but later.
We already have a very dysfunctional healthcare system. It's a real concern that people might turn to MAID because they cannot access healthcare. The article linked above cites at least one example of this. I think this concern is even greater with mental health cases, since our mental healthcare system is even more dysfunctional. Why are we offering MAID for people with mental health issues when we can barely offer proper healthcare for people with mental health issues? That's a legitimate concern. If you want to frame that concern as me being as a nosey person who wants people to live in suffering then you can, but that's not a very productive way to hold this conversation.
I am not advocating for a stance for or against MAID. I have not stated my position on it. All of my comments are pointing out a flaw in your argument that I observed.
To decide whether their situation warrants MAID or not.
Yes, that is to decide who will live and who will die
Sure, go ahead and pretend there's no nuance and phrase it that way.
My phrasing provides an accurate description of the situation. Perhaps you think it's skimming over some nuance. But I'm phrasing it that way to draw attention to what kind of decision it is. I'm not sure if it's a decision anyone should really be making outside of a wartime triage situation.
I never said it was a decision for just anyone or an easy one. I said it's a decision that requires context and nuance.
It's like deciding who gets donated organs, when does a doctor declare brain death, when do you shut off the machines or give a large morphine dose, etc.
They're hard decisions. They need to be made with care.
This implies that we need to make these decisions. The other decisions you listed are decisions that we need to make. But who receives medical decision in dying is not a decision we need to make. That's a decision we choose to make.
Deciding not to allow MAID is also deciding who lives and dies, and how. But denying people the right to die can be a cruelty all on its own. This is a decision we need to make. It's healthcare, it's quality of life, it's managing suffering and pain with consent and thoughtfulness.
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?
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.
Yes I know. I said nearly every other country does without it, but it is true that some countries do have similar programs.
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.
Yeah I agree with you.
We need to fix the issues and we’ve massively widened the gaps in the system.
except it doesn't just because maid has been authorized it automatically happens. that decision is as it has always been placed with the one asking for it.
That's true, but it doesn't contradict what I'm saying. The person making the decision is the patient, but someone does need to authorize it. And in authorizing it/not authorizing it, that physician is quite literally making a decision about who lives and dies.
I'm not really in the mood to keep going in circles about this.
then lets not circle back around to who is involved and look at the results of not allowing it. the alternative is failed suicide attempts and long term suffering. assuming we can treat or make people jump through hoops or find some kind of grand arbiter just prolongs suffering and helps us look the other way as we force people poorly trained or in immense pain to figure it out themselves or put themselves/others in legal jeopardy in addition to suffering. If I have the right to life as long as it is not at the expense of others than i have the right to end it.
This kind of seems like a better outcome to me though? Like, that's better than a successful suicide attempt, no?
It's not necessarily the case that someone with a mental illness is doomed to a life of extreme suffering. That's an ablest mindset, and it does disservice to that community. When someone is in their darkest moment and unsure if things are going to get better, we should be giving them hope, not saying "you're right, you're doomed, but don't worry you can kill yourself".
I'm not entirely sure what you mean about the legal stuff.
Mental Health Illnesses aren't just "oh I'm depressed, I should kill myself, humph!".
You're either very young, or very ill informed of mental health issues. Either way you should take time to learn about some of the different mental health disorders out there and what kind of hell living with some of them can be before speaking with such absolute conviction on a topic you know little to nothing about.
As for your
That's what the medical team is for. They don't just tell you to kill yourself because you had a bad day. Have you ever interacted with a medical team for a long term health issue for any length of time? It is a slow meticulous process of tests and treatments and elimination of options that can take years. Get your head out of your ass and use your brain for fuck sakes.
Never suggested they did. But in the end they do end up killing people solely because they have a mental illness (assuming the expansion of MAiD goes through). There’s a reason why the UN considers this state sponsored eugenics. Very few other democratically run countries have done this since eugenics went out of fashion.
Have you even watched the Genvia session?
Have you even read the article were discussing?
I have. It takes some liberties from the video it is citing to put it nicely.
failed suicide attempts are rarely clean or lead to deep reflection if they have already gone through the maid process. maid is not some kind of instant approval we do it in an hour situation. failed suicide attempts at this level are messy and tend to involve mutilation and even deeper suffering. You seem to assume i am ableist and completely ignore the fact that there are people who have and will suffer to the very end and want assistance in doing something that is inherently undignified with some dignity while not having to worry about a doctor or a family member being charged with manslaughter for being with them in their last moments. maid gives those people a pathway to self reflect before they make a rash decision. please familiarize yourself with maid and the process before misrepresenting how it works.
So instead of focusing on suicide prevention we should just get our doctors to finish the job for them?
edit: that probably wasn’t the best wording. things have been getting a bit feisty in this thread and i feel the opposition coming in hot so i got defensive. i know you think ive misrepresented how maid works but i dont think i have. granted i havent gone into detail about the vetting and how its a long process etc but i assumed thats because we are all on the same page. there is one thing i havent misrepresented though and thats this: if this expansion goes forward, people will receive medical assistance in dying solely because they have a mental illness. i think this is a dangerous system and ripe for abuse; you dont, and you think its the merciful thing to do. thats fine, clearly we disagree. but if were to keep discussing this here, lets reign it in and keep it from getting nasty (im not saying im innocent in this department; i know im not).
You talk them down as many times as you can but some people will still jump in front of that subway car and ruin a few people's lives.
Some people will, yes, but not everyone with suicidal ideation necessarily acts on it.
True, but enough do act upon it that it's a big issue. When hope dies is when people die. The biggest problem is at provincial levels because they're the ones who decide what mental healthcare is paid for ... and right now it's very little. Usually only psychiatrists, but not psychologists, social workers, or any other mental health specialists. Those are all out-of-pocket and it's expensive. Nevermind remote regions who often don't have any.
This is not on the feds because they don't control healthcare. The provinces do, and when you've got provincial leaders who care more about giving away tax dollars to big business than caring for the people, dying by MAID becomes an easy solution to a provincial greed problem.
it seems to me that if were having trouble rolling out healthcare then we should focus on improving healthcare, not introducing MAiD. MAiD is not an alternative to proper mental healthcare, but I guess that’s what you’re saying?
I didn't justify the use of MAiD. I just explained why it's being used by poor people.
Yeah. I actually think your comment was very insightful, thank you
Canada has always had a pathetic budget to fund biomedical research, because government assumed the US would pay the bills and we just buy the drugs.
Now, the US budget is zero, and we are paying hundreds of billions for drugs we should be making locally. This amplified under Trudeau and Carney, because CDN voters don't care. Carbon tax was the priority.
More than likely depression isn't the mental health condition this targets.
However you need the recommending and preforming doctor to sign off on it and be deemed able to consent the day of.
If you were suicidal the day they go to do it then you'd be disqualified.
It sucks for dementia patients because they can't sign off "when my mind goes". They have to do it before then.
If someone is not suicidal the day they go to do it then they won’t go through with it. Why would you choose to die if you don't want to die? I don't understand this sentence.
Dying on your own terms isn't suicidal in the sense of mental illness/depression.
It is quite literally assisted suicide though
That is a massive over-simplification. MAID gives people the ability to die on their own terms.
It's not an over-simplification that's literally just what its called. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_suicide