Medical Assistance in Dying Essay Example
In June 2016 Canada became one of the first law systems to legalize physician-assisted dying. Medical assisted dying is often seen as a form of suicide, which at the end of the day is in the hands of the person who has requested the procedure. To this day, euthanasia continues to be a topic of controversy. As a result, today most countries have decided to not legalize assisted dying. The three main issues that are affected because of euthanasia are the misinterpretations of Bill C-14, the ethical view of the mentally ill receiving euthanasia, and the view on medical assisted dying in care homes. There have been debates and controversial opinions if medical assisted dying can apply to individuals who have mental illnesses. This means that euthanasia would be legal for those individuals who are not necessarily in crucial pain, but rather to those that their way of living is limited and hindered because of their disability.
To begin, this legal issue has led to an increase in legal controversies, according to Bill C-14, medically assisted dying is only eligible for adults who are in an irremediable condition. Bill C-14 is an “act to amend the criminal code and to make related amendments to other Acts”, as medical assistance in dying (McMorrow, 2018). For example, individuals with psychiatric disorders are technically eligible to proceed with medical assistance in dying. With saying that, they need to have specific requirements which are described in more detail further on. An individual is eligible if they have a medical condition that has no possible cure, if their suffering is intolerable and if “their natural death has become reasonably foreseeable” (Omar Ha-Redeye, 2016). Therefore, if the individual cannot identify with any of the previous requirements, then they are unable to receive the treatment. The main controversial topic of discussion that is had is with the last requirement, having the individual’s death reasonably foreseeable. While this is a little debatable since no one truly knows the date and time for someone’s death. At the same time, one can argue that their natural death is coming near regarding how the state of their health is.
Professor Montero argues that “Once euthanasia is allowed, it becomes very difficult to maintain a strict interpretation of the statuary conditions” (Omar Ha-Redeye, 2016). In other words, once it is legalized people can find a way around the rules and make a case for their situation. Individuals will interpret the statuary conditions in a different way than Bill C-14 establishes. This will be led to misinterpretation with courts and the rights of the individual. According to Bill C-14, the individuals eligible for medical assistance in dying are those who have a “grievous and irremediable medical” condition. This is readdressing the severity of the conditions of the individuals that can receive the assistance. This means that those individuals who have a medical condition that has a cure, or a treatment are not eligible. There have been some controversies for this reason even while the individual might be in extreme pain.
On the other hand, individuals who have mental illnesses are not taken seriously on their thoughts or request to consider them as candidates for medical assistance dying. An issue that arises that goes against people with mental illnesses is that one of their symptoms may include failure to reason. This can lead to higher authorities refusing their request since in their eyes the individuals are not choosing with a proper and adequate mind. The right for the individual to proceed with euthanasia “includes those that are not terminal or life-threatening” (Omar Ha-Redeye, 2016). As a result of misinterpretation, certain individuals can bring reasoning behind their “illness”. For example, people who have disabilities and who do not have a strong support team might be led to believe in their eligibility for medically assisted dying. In saying this, individuals who might feel lonely are more prone to request this procedure because of their loneliness. Therefore, not necessarily having to do with anything with their health condition. This has led courts to be seen as unfair since they might give favoritism to certain individuals, while their intentions might not be to neglect certain groups intentionally. A clearer definition of suffering is “any enduring experience of pain or distress that significantly impairs a person’s subjective satisfaction with his or her quality of life” (Ryan Tanner, 2018). This can be both physical pain and emotional pain, mental illness can be as dangerous as physical pain. To this day, there is still a different view on mental health, and it is seen as to not be as crucial as physical pain. This can be a dangerous slope and theory to have since it can lead to a more delicate approach for those individuals that require assistance.
Legal controversies on medical assistance dying have become a legal issue in a lot of care homes for the final days of their lives. This legal issue can defer if the organization is either religious or has set rules beforehand if an individual can apply for the home. In care homes, specific organizations have regulations where medical assistance dying is not supported, and if the individual requests euthanasia treatment, then they would have to be transferred to a different organization that supports it and can attend to their needs.
In conclusion, a couple of legal issues that physician-assisted dying carries are misinterpretations of Bill C-14, ethical analysis, and view for the mentally ill, and controversies on care homes. According to an analysis report by Professor Montero, it is hard to maintain a rigid interpretation of the conditions and requirements to be eligible for euthanasia. This leads to misinterpretation of official documents of medical assistance dying and creating legal controversies. Thus, having understood the ethical reasons behind the view on individuals with mentally ill helps paint a picture of why there are set requirements to proceed with medical assistance in dying.
