Since May 19, 2023, there has been a debate related to the choice of places to receive medical assistance in dying (MAID).
Having done a master’s degree in applied ethics, the subject of all my work and the subject of my essay being medical assistance in dying, I believe that the best way to approach this debate is to discuss it and place the patient central to this discussion.
It is important to remember that article 2.1 of chapter 1 of the Act respecting end-of-life care mentions that “respect for the person at the end of life and recognition of their rights and freedoms must inspire every action taken towards them”. Moreover, 1% of MAIDs are already administered in a place other than a health establishment or the home.
The public debate raised by the provision of space in a funeral complex to obtain medical assistance in dying is necessary and desirable. We live in a free society with many services covered by the government. Some people choose to obtain services differently since the public sector struggles to respond adequately to demand.
The healthcare system already relies heavily on the private sector, whether for residential palliative care for the elderly (RPA) and for surgeries, so why be offended when a private offer hits the market for a new care ? Is the private offer always ill-intentioned?
In addition, the AMM offers a new ritual to families. This ritual must be done in “a calm, peaceful and solemn place”. Funeral homes fully meet these criteria. The hospital certainly does not have these qualifiers. So there remains the house.
Not every family wants to see the lifeless body of a loved one in the place where happy memories have been stored.
My father requested medical assistance in dying. He did not want to die at home and was not a palliative care case. So he walked into the hospital. Despite all the goodwill of the staff, the hospital remains a rarely soothing, calm and solemn place for this last goodbye. We would have liked to offer him a more pleasant option.
Do we want a society that will force people to die in a specific place or rather a society that respects free choice and allows people to choose the last memory they want to keep? If there is the possibility of dying looking at the lake of our childhood, of watching a projection to have the feeling of hurtling down our favorite mountain, why force us to die in a hospital room?
Patients receiving MAID want to choose a date, time and place. Are all the well-meaning people in our society capable of refusing this last wish?
I believe that politicians should listen to the population, to find out what people want, before going up to the barricades. We need a respectful rather than accusatory debate.