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Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

bbc.com

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Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#561

Post by diddid »

smitelli wrote: post #483
diddid wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grown adults are prevented from making decisions all the time. Wearing a seat belt for example. Why should it be OK to force someone to wear a seat belt all of the time, but not OK to have a waiting period if someone decides they want to die?

Well, partially, because it’s hell on the first responders to have to clean up a fatal accident scene, which is made worse if the death(s) could have been prevented.

I don’t disagree, but you are making the case for regulating grown adults. For the parent post “who decides how long the waiting period should be?” The answer is society. Right now society says none, but it shouldn’t be looked upon in horror if that changes. If I had to choose, I’d choose seat belts optional over on-demand euthanasia.

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#562

Post by gosub100 »

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #493
pj_mukh wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dad (age 75) got diagnosed with ALS and within a month of the diagnosis opted for MAID. He had only just lost control of one leg, but he knew what was coming. As much as we begged him for more time, he didn't want any of it. Till his dying breath he kept repeating how thankful he was that he lived in a country that didn't force him to live on when he didn't want to. He was a clear Track 1 case, and I realize Track…

Yeah man, it does suck. I do wish I'd had more time with both my parents, they both died really early in their 50s, I don't think you can ever have "enough" time. I wish my mother had been given the option in her early 50s, the number of people punished by authoritarian governments that deny self determinism and force people to be put through experiences literally worse than torture is mind boggling, I cannot fathom…

I think it would take flat-earth level idiocy to think you need the government's blessing to "self-determine".

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#563

Post by s1artibartfast »

sb057 wrote: post #515
djoldman wrote: post #113

IMO, the key quote: > The vast majority – around 96% - had a death deemed "reasonably foreseeable", due to severe medical conditions such as cancer.

Everyone's death is "reasonably foreseeable".

Obviously, in this context foreseeable means that the nature has low uncertainty and the predicted timing is narrow

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#564

Post by lotsofpulp »

iLoveOncall wrote: post #474
guyzero wrote: post #131

My Canadian parents are in their 80's so naturally a lot of their friends of the same age are dying. And two of them have been via MAID. In one case, which was surprising to me, a man who had survived cancer - he was not terminal but certainly wasn't getting any better - elected to die via MAID after his wife died. She passed, he called his doctor and less than a week later he was also dead. He got a chance to visit…

I'm sorry but people that just lost their life partner a week ago are really not "of sound mind" when it comes to taking such kind of decision and it's criminal in my opinion to let them. What's next? We let teenagers choose to die after their first love breaks up with them? I'm neither against nor for euthanasia, but I also think the situations where it's the best solution for everyone are extremely rare.

I doubt the story that poster wrote is true. The actual MAiD policies are very sensible.

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-servi...

> Your eligibility assessment must take a minimum of 90 days, unless the assessments have been completed sooner and you are at immediate risk of losing your capacity to consent.

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#565

Post by BeefWellington »

toasterlovin wrote: post #263

What is the steelman argument for why it's okay to help people kill themselves a la MAID, but not okay to execute murderers? (Assuming the argument against capital punishment is that mistakes are often or sometimes made)

Others have given you an angle related to consent.

I'll give a different take: Rehabilitation.

In some philosophies, Prison is designed to rehabilitate prisoners so they don't reoffend. Execution doesn't fit with this philosophy.

Assisted Dying is meant to be an option for those for whom there can be no rehabilitation. Eventually some day, when we've figured out the key to immortality and/or sufficiently advanced robotics, maybe we can offer a different way to rehabilitate people facing terminal illnesses and suffering. Until then, letting someone choose not to suffer out their final years and die on their own terms seems like a reasonable approach.

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#566

Post by _DeadFred_ »

JohnBooty wrote: post #231
_DeadFred_ wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When my mom had cancer I told her she better do everything she could to beat it (she was a super hippie no chemicals person). I remember she was taking some horrible toxic chemo pill that made her miserable (like even her, the person taking the pill, had to handle it with gloves taking it out of the bottle), and I was like mom, stop taking it if it makes you miserable. She broke into tears and was suddenly so gratefu…

I'm so sorry, that's just awful. I am glad you guys had some resolution, I guess for lack of a better word... I hope that time has eased the pain some

So one thing old people never tell you, you don't really get over losing your parents (if you had relationships with them).

But... I can never doubt that my mom loved me. She might have messed up a lot, but she was willing to take actual poison that was torture for her just to ease my mind.

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#567

Post by jacobgkau »

neom wrote: post #404
aaplok wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, someone has to. If you walk in very drunk asking to be euthanised, one would hope that they would have to wait until you are no longer drunk to confirm you really want to be euthanised. Then, who decides on the waiting period? Likewise if a traumatic event clouds your judgement (as some events can do), it's not unreasonable to make you wait until your judgement is sound. Then someone has to decide on th…

You can't access MAID in Canada any faster than 90 days unless you are at immediate risk of losing your faculties such that you couldn't make the choice. You need multiple specialists to assess you and sign off on it etc.

Really? Then how did the man in guyzero's anecdote do it in less than a week?

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#568

Post by s1artibartfast »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #118
afh1 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no "we". There are people and their bodies and their wishes. And authoritarians who want a say on it. Doesn't matter if nice sounding words like law and democracy are used to describe the tyranny.

Authoritarians that want to force doctors to provide death as a service?

Obviously doctors should have a choice not to provide a specific service if they don't want to

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#569

Post by BeefWellington »

throwaway313313 wrote: post #72
yoavm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't this overcomplicating it? Euthanasia doesn't require advertising, it seems like people yearn for it even in places where it isn't allowed. The point is that it should be a legitimate choice, not a suggestion by society. Just like your doctor doesn't tell you that it's probably time for you to become a parent, no doctor should recommend you to be gone.

Health care professionals consult with their patients to explore their needs and suggest options regularly. This is expected and normal. The professionals making suggestions naturally have biases. That behavior gets a bit interesting when one of the options is euthanasia. Here's a few cases: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/veterans-maid-rcmp-investig... "Last summer, Global News first reported a case where a veteran…

These are all the same case. They were all huge headlines in Canada. Note it wasn't a doctor but rather a case worker.

This example showed that the system is working well enough it was caught.

Re: Assisted dying now accounts for one in 20 Canada deaths

#570

Post by lotsofpulp »

cardanome wrote: post #348
GordonS wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, but there's a problem - the UK is in a real mess! Social services, medical services, all the services are underfunded and crumbling. There is a cost of living crisis as wages have barely moved in 15 years, food banks are everywhere, and now "multibanks" are popping up. Our country first needs to ensure that people can choose to live , and if needed be cared for; nobody should feel pushed into assisted dying be…

That is a very good point. To be fair, that is also the one issue with abortion that is legitimate. I am very pro-choice but also horrified by the reality that women sometimes are pressured to have abortion for economic reasons. Still I think that allowing abortion is a net good even when there is still economic imbalance. As for euthanasia, I think it is similar. We need to fight for a stable society with good socia…

> My hope is when cases of euthanasia for economic reasons happen, people will be horrified and it will put pressure into improving the system. But maybe I am naive.

I predict it will be the opposite. Economic reasons will pressure people to support euthanasia.

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