FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 April, 2026
In a paper released today, Heidi Janz, PhD, speaks directly to Christians about the dangers of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), drawing on the theological resources of Christianity that can help to counter the idolization of autonomy and self-sufficiency with the recognition of the dependency of all human beings and affirming the equal worth of disabled people as human beings made in God’s image.
Janz’s paper is titled “For Such a Time as This: Articulating a Christian Ethic of Disability in the Context of MAiD,” and is being published by Cardus.
“MAiD is increasingly understood by some Canadians as a viable solution to what they mistakenly assume to be the fundamental predicament of people with disabilities—a perceived lack of autonomy,” Janz said. “The eugenic logic could not be clearer: people with disabilities are viewed as living lives without value and dignity because of this lack of autonomy. Such ‘ableist’ assumptions are leading Canada down a dark and dangerous path with MAiD,” Janz said.
“My paper urges Christians to forcefully reject all tenets of ‘ableism.’ Our Christian churches, similarly, must defy ableist assumptions by affirming and supporting the value of all lives, regardless of the person’s age, illness, or disability,” she said.
“And as individual Christians, we must rid ourselves of any preconceived, ableist-type notions that MAiD is about some abstract, distant ‘them.’ The fight over MAiD is in fact about real, flesh-and-blood people: our neighbours, relatives, and friends who have disabilities, which is to say, our brothers and sisters in Christ. MAiD, and our unwavering opposition to it, must always be understood to be about ‘us’—all of us, together,” Janz added.
Heidi Janz’s “For Such a Time as This: Articulating a Christian Ethic of Disability in the Context of MAiD” is freely available on the Cardus website.
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