Discrimination and Socially Embedded Suffering: Extending Grant’s Critique of Track 2 MAID to Mental Illness

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7202/1126625ar

Keywords:

MAID, medical assistance in dying, mental illness, discrimination

Language(s):

English

Abstract

In her paper entitled “Why Track 2 MAiD is Discriminatory,” Isabel Grant offers a compelling disability justice-based critique of Canada’s evolving MAID regime. She argues that Track 2 MAID, which concerns persons who are not approaching the end of life, is premised on a medical model of disability that obscures structural ableism and therefore discriminates against persons with disabilities. In this commentary, I show that Grant’s analysis becomes even more urgent when extended to current debates about the expansion of MAID eligibility for individuals with mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition.

References

1. Grant I. Why Track 2 MAiD is discriminatory. Canadian Journal of Bioethics / Revue Canadienne de Bioéthique. 2025;8(4):45-55.

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3. Davies W. Externalist psychiatry. Analysis. 2016;76(3):290-296.

4. Maung HH. Externalist argument against medical assistance in dying for psychiatric illness. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2022;49(8):553-57.

5. Maung HH. A rebuttal on externalism. Journal of Medical Ethics. 2024;51(3):199-200.

6. Young IM. Responsibility for Justice. Oxford University Press; 2011.

7. Young IM. Structural injustice and the politics of difference. In: Craig G, Burchardt T, Gordon D, editors. Social Justice and Public Policy: Seeking Fairness in Diverse Societies. Bristol: Bristol University Press; 2008. p. 77-104.

8. Rooney W, Schuklenk U, van de Vathorst S. Are concerns about irremediableness, vulnerability, or competence sufficient to justify excluding all psychiatric patients from medical aid in dying? Health Care Analysis. 2018;26(4):326-43.

© Han Han Li

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Published

2026-06-22

How to Cite

[1]
Dunn N. Discrimination and Socially Embedded Suffering: Extending Grant’s Critique of Track 2 MAID to Mental Illness. Can. J. Bioeth 2026;9:115-8. https://doi.org/10.7202/1126625ar.

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 3 (2026): Open Issue

Section

"Response to" Commentaries

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Nicholas Dunn

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