At the recent Dublin international conference on Assisted Dying, it was notable that Professor Jocelyn Downie from Canada interrupted her presentation in order to refute some of the “slippery slope” myths that have sprung up around her country’s adoption of Medical Assistance in Dying.
Access to MAID is limited to people of 18 years and over. You cannot apply for it simply because you are homeless or going through a difficult period in your life. It is not being used in order to save public expenditure on health care. It has resulted in an increase in investment in palliative care, not a reduction as its opponents claim. Anyone seeking an accurate fact-check should visit Dying with Dignity Canada www.dyingwithdignity.ca.
The criteria for assisted dying do not include the “must die within six months” requirement but still insist that any successful application must be approved by two independent doctors. People must volunteer for an assisted death and must not have been persuaded into it. They must have a “grievous and irremediable condition” in order to qualify. Social and financial considerations may indeed be taken into account, by they cannot be used alone to justify any end-of-life process.
Ultimately, of course, Canada is a democracy. Its MPs are properly elected and must be taken to represent the views of their nation. If they want to increase or reduce the scope of MAID, then that is up to them.
The term “slippery slope” was first used in 1869 when the British Parliament passed The Municipal Franchise Act. Women were given the right to vote in local elections provided they were unmarried and owned a property. Some MPs argued against the change. Once women were given any vote, however unimportant, it might lead, they said, to “widespread voting activities by females” – and what would become of England if that happened ?
