"Then again, perhaps Western Europe is returning to pre-modern norms about the sanctity of life and the value of disabled children. Plutarch recorded that disabled babies in Sparta were left to die of exposure. No less a thinker than Aristotle wrote approvingly of the practice. The key difference, it appears, is that the Dutch do it with needles instead."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/06/25/the-netherlands-western-morality-assisted-dying/
41% of Canadians support doctors refusing MAID for religious reasons
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/41-of-canadians-say-doctors-should-be-allowed-to-refuse-maid-for-religious-reasons
"Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer and policy analyst, said in an interview with National Post: “The idea of intentionally killing somebody is something that many people object to, and so I think this is a pretty fundamental right that we should be preserving in our society".
rljcoelho: "Same-day euthanasia. Delirium. Dementia. Caregiver burnout. Capacity Concerns A patient “vigorously roused” to consent. Another denied palliative hospice but MAiD given the same day These are real cases. https://spcare.bmj.com/content/early/2026/01/27/spcare-2025-006046"
Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) regime was introduced in 2016 and expanded in 2021. Within its framework, euthanasia accounts for almost all cases. MAiD operates through two legal pathways: Track 1, for those whose ‘natural death is reasonably foreseeable’ (RFND), and Track 2, for persons with chronic disabilities whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable, whereas MAiD for sole reasons of mental illness remains suspended by federal legislation until 2027.1 The MAiD statute requires that requests be voluntary, individuals have decision-making capacity and patients be informed of reasonable means to alleviate suffering. However, these safeguards have not consistently been applied as intended. Case studies, media investigations, parliamentary reports and official reviews increasingly document cases of concern. These failures point to systemic weaknesses in safeguards, particularly for those experiencing psychosocial distress, disability-related pressures or fluctuating cognitive states. Here, we discuss cases of the Ontario Chief Coroner’s MAiD Death Review Committee, of which we are members.2 Case 1: A housebound, severely obese woman with comorbidities, including depression, and disengaged from care for years, requested MAiD. When offered, she refused therapy, documented to potentially improve or reverse her conditions. MAiD assessors determined that she met the criteria for Track 1 MAiD due to her decision not to pursue treatment, and she received MAiD. Case 2: A man with cerebral palsy living in long-term care voluntarily stopped eating and drinking, leading to renal failure and dehydration. He was deemed eligible under Track 1 because his death was considered ‘reasonably foreseeable’. No psychiatric expertise was consulted despite evidence of psychosocial distress. Case 3: A man in his 70 s with essential tremor, whose MAiD provider documented that the request was primarily driven by emotional suffering and bereavement. Analysis: Case 1 demonstrates how some assessors may judge suffering as intolerable without establishing an accurate prognosis …
Yuan Yi Zhu (@yuanyi_z): "Healthcare systems should provide healthcare instead of killing people. Well done to the French senate in resisting the blandishments of the death lobbyists." | nitter
https://nitter.net/yuanyi_z/status/2014423825740419120#m
"In a June 2025 poll by the campaign group Care Not Killing, 65% agreed that the government should prioritise sorting out palliative, social and end-of-life care before considering whether to introduce assisted dying. Given the damning evidence of underfunding in end-of-life care, the message that the members of both parliaments should now take on board is that assisted living matters too."
#ukpol #MAiD #AssistedDying #DoctorsKillingPatients
#TheGuardian
M. Grégoire
