There’s a big difference between what we imagine about Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada and what actually happens to patients.

In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada’s Carter decision overturned the ban on physician-assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia for specific patients. The SCC cited “grievous and irremediable medical conditions” and “enduring suffering that is intolerable to the individual” as the criteria for obtaining MAID. The 2016 legislation that followed upon the decision required that death be “reasonably foreseeable.” But today, we see MAID offered proactively to vulnerable patients as part of the range of “treatment” options, and in situations where death is nowhere in sight. If we were first slipping down the terminal illness slope with increasing MAID usage, we’re now skiing down another hill altogether.