Unravelling MAID in Canada: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as Medical Care [Paperback]

Since legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide as medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in 2016, Canada has witnessed an internationally unprecedented expansion of the practice, making it the country with the highest number of MAiD deaths. Initially introduced to relieve suffering in a broad end-of-life context, the law expanded quickly to make MAiD available to disabled Canadians not approaching their natural deaths. MAID will also become legal for sole reasons of mental illness sometime after 2027, and there are plans to expand it further to include minors and advance requests. From a cross-disciplinary perspective, including contributions from authors with lived experience, Indigenous perspectives, and expertise in medicine, mental health, disability, law, and ethics, Unravelling MAiD in Canada challenges readers with the ethical, medical, legal, societal, and disability justice rights concerns that have arisen in regard to this hotly debated irreversible practice. Canada now provides more state-facilitated euthanasia and assisted suicide than any other country. This volume puts forth critical reflections and valuable insights as more jurisdictions consider their own assisted dying laws and policies.

Since its legalization in 2016, health care professionals in Canada have provided more state-facilitated euthanasia and assisted suicide, or MAID, than in any other country. MAiD has quickly become one of the leading causes of death in Canada. Unravelling MAiD in Canada provides critical reflections on ethical, medical, legal, and disability justice concerns as more jurisdictions consider their own assisted dying laws and policies.

This book is exceptional. Coelho, Gaind, and Lemmens have edited a deeply informative collection that unpacks the history of medical assistance in dying in Canada and reveals its disproportionately harmful impact on persons with disabilities. The chapters helpfully bring together law, politics, medicine, and disabilc/