Ethics of Medical Assistance in Dying for Non-Terminal Illness: A Comparison of Mental and Physical Illness in Canada and Europe

  • Katharine Birkness Department of Internal Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6150-8922
  • Abraham Rudnick Departments of Psychiatry and Bioethics, Faculty of Medicine; School of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Health, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Keywords: ethics, (ir)remediability, medical assistance in dying, MAiD, mental illness, principlism
Language(s): English

Abstract

Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) is scheduled to be legalized in Canada as of March 2024 for individuals with mental disorder/illness as their sole underlying medical condition (MAiD MD-SUMC). As guidelines are being developed for the safe and consistent provision of MAiD MD-SUMC, sufficient consideration must be given to the interpretation of ambiguous terminology in current legislation, and to ensuring sound use of acceptable ethics principles in these interpretations.

Published
2023-12-04
How to Cite
[1]
Birkness K, Rudnick A. Ethics of Medical Assistance in Dying for Non-Terminal Illness: A Comparison of Mental and Physical Illness in Canada and Europe. Can. J. Bioeth. 2023;6:128-31. https://doi.org/10.7202/1108009ar.
Section
Critical commentaries