Abstract
The practice of Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide (EAS), referred to in Canada as “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAID), evolved within a span of six years from being initially restricted to individuals dying from a terminal illness, to those who are not dying but suffering intolerably from a disability, and was further projected to include eligibility for non-dying individuals suffering solely from a mental disorder by 2023. The Canadian Federal Government indicated in December of 2022 the intention of delaying expansion of MAID to include mental disorders. The delay was extended to March 17, 2024. The extension of the practice of MAID for Mental Disorders as a Sole Underlying Medical Condition (MD-SUMD) has generated extensive debate in professional bodies advocating for and against the inclusion of mental disorders in the provision of MAID. This chapter provides an overview of the chronology of events in Canada pertaining to the evolution of the public discourse on MAID for MD-SUMD, as well as some of the most important arguments put forth in the study of this issue. The chapter concludes with some recommendations on how this issue could be approached in Canada moving forward.
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Tang, S., Gaind, K.S., Lau, T. (2023). MAID for Persons with Mental Illness as a Sole Eligibility Criterion. In: Kotalik, J., Shannon, D.W. (eds) Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada . The International Library of Bioethics, vol 104. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30002-8_17
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