COLOSSAL CANADA CROSSWORD SOLUTION
Wednesday April 17, 2024
Now is the time to urge Ottawa that people with disorders such as Alzheimer’s and dementia should be able to request medical assistance in dying before their cognitive decline, says the CEO of an influential group.
Helen Long, the head of Dying With Dignity Canada, says the public strongly supports allowing people with neurocognitive disorders to request an assisted death before their disease causes them to lose the capacity to consent.
“I think a lot of people have a fam- ily experience with one of those diseases,” she said in a recent interview. “So it’s easy for them to see themselves.”
The move to seek greater access for such patients comes after Ottawa’s decision, following months of debate, to delay the extension of eligibility to people suffering only from mental illness.
The government legislated a threeyear pause after several provinces told the federal health minister their systems weren’t ready to implement the policy.
Long’s organization, along with other proponents, argue those suffering from an intolerable mental illness should have the same right to the procedure as someone suffering from a debilitating physical condition.
“Given what’s happened with the mental disorders delay, I think this is the time for us to really focus on advanced requests,” said Long.
“That said, you know, mental disorders are still something that we feel strongly about.”
The group commissioned a survey by Ipsos that found 83 per cent of Canadians they polled support advance requests for those diagnosed with a “grievous” condition that will eventually cause them to lose the capacity to decide.
The survey polled 2,000 Canadians in March, and cannot be assigned a margin of error.
A special joint committee of senators and MPs struck to consider expanding access to assisted dying recommended that Ottawa move ahead on allowing requests in advance of cognitive decline, Long noted.
Doing so would require an amendment to criminal law.
Quebec passed legislation last year allowing people in the early stages of serious degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer’s to request assisted death, and have the procedure carried out once their condition worsened.