Canadian man who has tried to kill himself twice backs new law that will allow doctors euthanize people just because they’re mentally ill: Bill is set to be enacted in March

A Canadian man with depression who twice attempted suicide has backed a controversial new law that would allow people whose only medical condition is mental illness to be euthanized.

The country is set to pass the law in March, but the move has divided Canadians over how their country cares for people with mental illness.

The country's law on medically assisted dying (MAID) is one of the most liberal in the world, and 13,241 Canadians were euthanized in 2022, according to figures. Health Canada.

Euthanasia was legalized for the terminally ill in Canada in 2016, and the law was expanded to other seriously ill people in 2021. The law will extend to people suffering solely from a mental illness on March 27 and those patients will begin preparing their applications. for the process.

Jason French told The New York Times he has severe depression and has tried to kill himself twice – and he is lobbying for people like him to have access to assisted dying.

“My goal from the beginning was to get better. Unfortunately, I am resistant to all these treatments and the bottom line is that I cannot continue to suffer. I can't keep living my life like this,” French said.

'I don't want to have to die terrified and alone and for someone to find me somewhere. I want to do it together with a doctor. I want to die peacefully in a few minutes.”

There is speculation and debate as to whether MAID for the mentally ill will become available in March as the government has has postponed this in the past on how it should be implemented.

Clinical guidelines were released last March to address these concerns, but some people providing treatment said they were insufficient.

This has motivated French, who said he rarely leaves his home, to create a five-page document explaining his case and hand it out to medical experts at events promoting assisted dying.

Lisa Marr, a former paramedic diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, said she has attempted suicide 15 times and is waiting for the new law to take effect.

“I think the only reason I haven't done it yet is because I'm waiting for this decision in March,” she told The Times.

The assisted death process in Canada begins with downloading a form online.

This involves the applicant answering a series of check box questions and signing the bottom, followed by securing the signature of witnesses. A telephone call and a home visit from a doctor will then follow.

If the application is approved by two separate doctors, the person must wait 90 days from the time of the application, after which a doctor can administer the lethal drug via injection.

Currently, people who have only mental health conditions, such as depression and personality disorders, without physical conditions, are not eligible for assisted suicide.

Medical professionals are baffled as legalizing euthanasia would hinder their efforts to prevent mental health suicide.

Dr. John Maher, a psychiatrist in Barrie, Ont., said he is concerned that patients will opt for assisted death instead of seeking treatment.

'I try to keep my patients alive. What does it mean for the role of the doctor, as a healer, as a bringer of hope, to offer death? And what does it mean in practice,” said Maher.

Other professionals said denying mentally ill people access to assisted dying could be discrimination.

Dr. Alexandra McPherson, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Alberta and an assisted dying provider, said she treats a small number of patients “with severe debilitating mental disorders who suffer equally to the patients I see in cancer care.”

Canada's Medically Assisted Dying (MAID) law will be expanded in March to include people suffering solely from a mental illness

More than 13,000 Canadians were euthanized in 2022. However, it remains uncertain whether the new law will come into effect and people suffering from mental illness are calling for it to be expanded

Critics of Canada's assisted suicide program say it is on a dangerous path toward mass euthanasia and increasing pressure on the sick, disabled and poor to end their lives prematurely.

Alex Schadenberg, director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said euthanasia rates “skyrocketed” because a “heavy promotion of MAiD within our medical system” had “normalized” lethal injections.

“Every major healthcare facility has a MAiD team that will literally approach anyone who might be eligible for MAiD and ask them if they want to die,” Schadenberg told DailyMail.com.

Daniel Zekveld, an analyst at ARPA Canada, a Christian advocacy group, said Canada has created “one of the most tolerant euthanasia regimes in the world” where deaths are “continuing to rise.”

“Guarantees continue to be relaxed and euthanasia is increasingly offered as an easy solution to suffering,” Zekveld told DailyMail.com.

“Rather than normalizing euthanasia and accepting the deaths of thousands of Canadians, Canada must promote suicide prevention and life-affirming care for all.”