❓WHAT HAPPENED: Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada has surged in popularity, with practitioners struggling to meet demand as euthanasia accounted for 4.7 percent of deaths nationwide in 2023.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Canadian medics, government officials, and critics of euthanasia.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Canada, with 2023 marking the latest year with complete data; euthanasia was legalized in 2016 and expanded in 2021.
🎯IMPACT: Canada faces growing unease over the ethical implications of euthanasia, with concerns about expanding MAID to children, the mentally ill, and other vulnerable populations.
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), Canada’s term for legalized euthanasia, or “assisted dying,” has surged in popularity, to the point where doctors are now struggling to keep up. In 2023, MAID accounted for 4.7 percent of all deaths nationwide, positioning Canada just behind the Netherlands in global rankings. In Quebec, that figure surpassed seven percent, giving it the highest euthanasia rate in the world.
Since its legalization in 2016, the number of Canadians opting for MAID has increased yearly by double digits, with a particularly steep rise after the procedure became available to non-terminal patients in 2021. However, in 2023, the growth slowed to 16 percent, a significant drop compared to the previous average of 31 percent annually.
Critics have raised concerns that Canadian physicians are not only offering euthanasia but also actively encouraging it, sometimes to individuals whose primary challenge is mental health-related, such as suicidal ideation. Unlike assisted suicide protocols in other countries, in Canada, doctors administer the lethal injection themselves.
A recent report spotlighted this phenomenon, describing a Vancouver MAID conference that featured a buffet lunch, a DJ, and branded tote bags for attendees. Practitioners at the event shared how overwhelming the demand has become, and how it’s expected to rise even further this year, when MAID becomes legal for patients with mental illness.
Legislators are also considering whether to expand MAID to include minors. The proposal is already gaining traction in Parliament. Some clinicians have reportedly performed hundreds of euthanasia procedures. One maternity doctor even likened euthanasia to childbirth, referring to both as “deliveries.”
The United Kingdom has also followed Canada in passing a bill in the House of Commons to legalise assisted suicide, although it remains to be seen if it will pass in the House of Lords.
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