Ethical Issues in Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada

This report provides an overview of the current situation of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada and highlights some of the major ethical problems that exist within it. It also argues that assisted death is distracting from the real and pressing need for a national palliative care infrastructure.“Medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) has rapidly altered the landscape of healthcare in Canada. Presented as a means to end suffering, enable autonomy, and fuel Canadians’ choices in health matters, euthanasia and assisted suicide, referred to in Canada as MAiD, have been assimilated into Canadian healthcare with relative ease. However, the implementation and evolution of MAiD from its inception until now reveal significant ethical problems.These ethical problems consist of gaps in equity and care, rapid and unnecessary expansion, a misconstrued sense of what suffering is and how it may be addressed, and a shift in understanding what Canadian healthcare is and how it ought to be delivered.