What Needs to be Changed About Bill C-14
If doctors actively helped their patients die in the past, they did it in secret.
The legislation we have in place needs to be revised to allow more people to make choices about ending their lives. Bill C-14 current outline is that the patient needs to follow the following criteria in order to qualify for assisted suicide, have a serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability; be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability; endure physical and psychological suffering that is intolerable to them; and their natural death has become reasonably foreseeable. Patients must also be capable of providing informed consent at the time that MAID is provided. The topic is controversial because everyone has their own opinion on it and it is emotionally charged. Not many people can relate to exactly how it feels to be dying and not able to determine their fate. Many points of views come with this issue, some of which are moral, religious, ethical, and legal. This is urgent because Canadians are leaving the country to take the matter into their own hands, while they still are capable of doing it, in other countries around the world. Bill C-14 needs to be reformed to make assisted suicide more accessible.
Regarding my position on this issue is that the assisted dying legislation is based on criteria that is far too difficult to meet under most circumstances. Bill C-14 is not useful because it is so exclusive.
“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.”
The assisted dying legislation does not have a criteria that is useful to us and is too specific.
The government called its own legislation regarding assisted dying a responsible first step which leads me to believe that even they know it is only one step of many in the direction we need to go. The most challenging criteria from Bill C-14 to meet is because of the Bill’s definition of grievous and irremediable condition. According to Dying with dignity Canada “Get the Facts: Bill C-14 and Assisted Dying Law in Canada” , the definition of grievous and irremediable condition is that a person must satisfy all of the following “Have a serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability; be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability; endure physical and psychological suffering that is intolerable to them; and their natural death has become reasonably foreseeable. Patients must also be capable of providing informed consent at the time that MAID is provided” . The criteria that a patient must be Canadian and of the age of majority makes sense.
However, the definition of grievous and irremediable condition is unrealistic. To meet some of this criteria is understandable but to expect an individual to meet all of it is very challenging. For example, … Furthermore, the endurance of physical and psychological suffering that is intolerable is inhumane. A patient who is in an advanced state of decline in capability with a serious incurable illness will likely be receiving pain management medication of some kind. This would have to be stopped to determine how much suffering is happening. This entire process itself lacks all compassion! To determine natural death’s foreseeability is in whose hands?
Bill C-14 is too restrictive and we can fix this.
Recently a British Columbia resident and patient, Dan Laramie, who was suffering from diabetes and many other complications and illnesses related to it, successfully achieved medically assisted death. Dan’s widow stated in “B.C. Man Throws Celebration Party as he Undergoes Medically Assisted Death” by Dominika Lirette that he said, “I just don’t want them nipping away at pieces of me to try and save me if I can’t be saved” . Dan Laramie’s result is one we should work toward achieving for all Canadians. He was one of the few individuals who was capable of providing informed consent but this is very rare.
Even though Dan was successful it demonstrates what an improved Bill could provide for an even broader range of patients. Dignity and celebration of a life is what can be the result of someone’s death. The government’s next step needs to be reforming the notion of an “advanced state” of capability. If an individual is able to breath on their own versus with the assistance of a machine, due to an incurable illness or disease, their capability is in question but is still advanced. The current legislation contradicts itself in that if a patient is suffering intolerable pain for which they are being medicated, it is unlikely they will be of sound enough mind to provide informed consent at that time. Bill C-14 needs to take another step in its development and have further reach when it comes to the criteria a patient has to meet.
“Of all the ways to lose a person, death is the kindest.”
The assisted dying legislation is based on criteria that is far too difficult to meet under most circumstances. My first paragraph summarizes my reasoning behind what needs to be changed about Bill C-14. It gives specific facts directly from Bill C-14 and constructive criticism of those facts to support my opinion. The second paragraph summarizes what the government could and should do to revise the Bill’s legislation and provides a relatable example of what Bill C-14 could accomplish for people if improved.
