Lisa Pauli wants to die. The 47yearold has struggled with anorexia an eating disorder for decades; She says she’s had a twisted relationship with her body since she was eight.
Now, says Pauli, she weighs 40 kilos and can go days without solid food. She says she is so weak that she has to take breaks from shopping.
“Every day is hell,” he said. “I’m so tired. I’m sick of it. I’ve tried everything. I feel like I’ve already lived my life.”
Pauli cannot legally get medical help to die — not yet.
An expansion of the criteria for euthanasia, which will take effect in March 2024, will allow Canadians like Pauli, whose only illness is a mental illness, to choose medical euthanasia.
Canada legalized this manner of death in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, and in 2021 expanded it to include cases involving terminal but not terminal illnesses. The legal changes were anticipated by court rulings overturning the ban on euthanasia.
The breakthrough in mental health will make Canada one of the most comprehensive countries in the world when it comes to medical assistance in the event of death (MAID), according to a report by an expert panel to the Canadian Parliament.
Proponents of euthanasia still a new concept in many parts of the world say it is about personal autonomy.
But six disability and religion advocates told Portal the pace of planned changes to Canada’s euthanasia structure poses additional risks for people who choose MAID because they don’t have access to social services, the lack of which could exacerbate their suffering.
Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti rejected criticism that the country was acting too quickly and opening the system to abuse. Some disability advocates have called for an inversion of the current structure, arguing that it puts people with disabilities at risk.
“We got where we are thanks to a series of prudent measures,” Lametti said in an interview with Portal in June. “It was a slow, cautious development. And I’m proud of that.”
In 2021, the latest year for which data are available, 10,064 people died from assisted suicide, about 3.3% of Canada’s deaths that year. This compares to 4.5% in the Netherlands and 2.4% in Belgium, where euthanasia has been legal since 2002, according to official national figures.
The vast majority of euthanasia cases in Canada complied with the law, but officials felt a small number should be investigated, according to previously unreleased government data. In Canada, the provinces are responsible for health care.
In 202122, Quebec found that 15 euthanasias — accounting for 0.4% of all euthanasia in the region during that period — were noncompliant. The cases have been referred to Quebec’s autonomous medical corps and medical facilities, said Quebec spokeswoman MarieClaude Lacasse. In six of those cases, the person did not have a serious and terminal condition, according to the commission.
In British Columbia, government officials have referred 19 euthanasia cases to regulators and two others to law enforcement since 2018, according to a provincial spokesman, who did not provide further details.
None of the referrals in the two provinces have resulted in disciplinary action against the doctors, regulators said, without giving further details.
In four other provinces there were no problematic cases of euthanasia. Other provinces and territories, including Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, did not respond.