"Before we are providing assistance in dying, we need to provide assistance in living," argues Dr. Rebecca Vachon (PhD) on TVO's The Agenda with Steve Paikin.
“What we’re seeing bearing out from the numbers and the continued rise (in MAiD deaths) year over year is that this is becoming … normalized,” Cardus’s Dr. Rebecca Vachon (PhD) tells TV Ontario’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin. “This is not just another medical procedure. We need to remember that [MAiD] was created as an exemption in the Criminal Code.”
Dr. Vachon joined a panel on The Agenda to discuss the increasing use of euthanasia in Canada and how we should respond to it. She noted that “an increasing number of euthanized Canadians identified social isolation and loneliness as a source of suffering as well as the perception of being a burden.” That’s something that deserves more attention.
“The fact that there is this social suffering that is part of what is recognized in the data-collection process … should make us look very carefully at the supports being provided to people,” Dr. Vachon said. “And we do know that there are people receiving MAiD who did not receive palliative care, who required but did not receive disability support.”
Watch the full panel discussion below.
The Agenda - 15 January, 2025
January 15, 2025
