Don't die painfully! We will gain access to safe & legal assisted dying SOON if we write to our elected representatives (politicians). LINKS PROVIDED!

[wren-briar]

@mrpeter The forum member with OCD is in Belgium, but Canada has also tentatively approved it (technically, they've approved it, but haven't yet rolled it out).

Under Canada's current MAID law, people suffering solely from a mental illness who meet all the eligibility criteria and safeguards would have been eligible for MAID as of March 17, 2024. Important progress has been made to prepare for MAID eligibility for persons whose sole medical condition is a mental illness. However, in its consultations with the provinces, territories, medical professionals, people with lived experience and other stakeholders, the Government of Canada has heard – and agrees – that the health system is not yet ready for this expansion.

The Government of Canada introduces legislation to delay Medical Assistance in Dying expansion by 3 years

The Government of Canada tables legislation to delay MAID expansion by 3 years This news release deals with topics that may cause distress. If you or someone close to you needs support, resources are available at Canada.ca/mental-health.

www.canada.ca

 

[ctb2soble]

What would happen for them to realize? Aging? There are old ppl now in chronic pain from aging related conditions. Why haven't they demanded change? I doubt the general population's views will change, at least not within the next several decades. The sanctity of life bs is too ingrained in society and continues to be passed on.

Here in Canada, I think they become more lenient on what constitutes an illness worthy of suicide the older and less useful to the government's coffers you become. But yeah too many people, especially religions, are obsessed with prolonging life no matter the monetary, emotional, and physical cost.

I hate to say it, but I think we will have to see a global change in culture and people's mindsets before real change can happen.

 

[Praying 4 a Miracle]

Here in Canada, I think they become more lenient on what constitutes an illness worthy of suicide the older and less useful to the government's coffers you become. But yeah too many people, especially religions, are obsessed with prolonging life no matter the monetary, emotional, and physical cost.

I hate to say it, but I think we will have to see a global change in culture and people's mindsets before real change can happen.

I'm a Canadian, and I can tell you that Canada is teetering right on the edge of expanding MAID to include mental illness as the sole cause of suffering. We just need a little bit more political pressure, which can come from people like us in this forum.

Once Canada has approved it, I can guarantee that many other countries will start to follow suit quickly. Apparently Belgium has ALREADY approved this, I was not aware of that until it was mentioned on this thread! Depression 100% qualifies as a long-term disability in Canada, along with bipolar and others.

Also, if there's enough political pressure, I'm sure that the 2027 delay could be moved up to a sooner date in Canada. Belgium has broken through the psychological barrier of allowing MAID for mental illness (solely), so this will make it much easier for other countries like Canada to follow suit quickly. This is happening people, we're passing the tipping point now!

 

[Praying 4 a Miracle]

I just googled it, and it's not just Belgium. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland have also already approved their assisting dying programs for mental illness as a sole cause of chronic suffering!

Countries are inquiring and learning quickly from the successes of these countries, and public support is rising quickly. Canada will most likely be next, but many others will soon follow. Also, these countries are NOT experiencing the "slippery slope" that was the main concern of people who were opposed!

 

[Emeralds]

I just googled it, and it's not just Belgium. The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Switzerland have also already approved their assisting dying programs for mental illness as a sole cause of chronic suffering!

Countries are inquiring and learning quickly from the successes of these countries, and public support is rising quickly. Canada will most likely be next, but many others will soon follow. Also, these countries are NOT experiencing the "slippery slope" that was the main concern of people who were opposed!

This is true. They do say that they will consider mental illness, but they rarely approve someone for euthanasia based on mental illness alone. They usually give them the number to a suicide hotline instead.

 

[Praying 4 a Miracle]

This is true. They do say that they will consider mental illness, but they rarely approve someone for euthanasia based on mental illness alone. They usually give them the number to a suicide hotline instead.

Historically, that has been the case, but it's changing quickly. The Netherlands approved it officially in 1990, but very few people were approved until around 2010, when all of a sudden that number grew quickly. It's been rising steadily ever since. In fact, someone just reported on this thread that one of our own forum members was just approved in Belgium for OCD!

 

[Young.Werther]

I'm a Canadian, and I can tell you that Canada is teetering right on the edge of expanding MAID to include mental illness as the sole cause of suffering. We just need a little bit more political pressure, which can come from people like us in this forum.

Once Canada has approved it, I can guarantee that many other countries will start to follow suit quickly. Apparently Belgium has ALREADY approved this, I was not aware of that until it was mentioned on this thread! Depression 100% qualifies as a long-term disability in Canada, along with bipolar and others.

Also, if there's enough political pressure, I'm sure that the 2027 delay could be moved up to a sooner date in Canada. Belgium has broken through the psychological barrier of allowing MAID for mental illness (solely), so this will make it much easier for other countries like Canada to follow suit quickly. This is happening people, we're passing the tipping point now!

Yes, Benelux has approved it, and Switzerland has dignitas and their ilk, so some countries at least tolerate it. I don't think it will expand very much (or not quickly). You mention Canada's MAID program, but it seems telling that it got postponed. I'm not super well-versed on Canadian politics, but my impression was that conservatives will win the next election since Trudeau is so unpopular and then MAID is gone. Correct me if I'm wrong, not an expert.

But I think more telling is that the cultural norms/acceptance isn't there. I 100% agree that CTB is easier to justify than abortion, but I don't think this is a widespread opinion. Even if it is, I don't think reasoning trumps emotion here. People can't seem to understand why anyone would want to CTB or why they should be enabled. I mean you have foreign press who visit Belgium to talk about their euthanasia program, and there's always this exoticism to it, like "wow can you believe this is a thing?!" And the foreign press don't understand the reason for CTB of course. At least this was the impression I got from coverage from economist, BBC, NPR, NYT

You're awfully optimistic about this (I mean I do hope it works out, just not sure about the chances of that). I also think that the reason there isn't much activism here is because (a) people leave (CTB people can't contribute and recovered people are ideally putting energy into enjoying life or something) and (b) the people who are here typically have other things to worry about. But again, i hope things do get better. I'm just not inclined to believe they will.

 

[Praying 4 a Miracle]

Yes, Benelux has approved it, and Switzerland has dignitas and their ilk, so some countries at least tolerate it. I don't think it will expand very much (or not quickly). You mention Canada's MAID program, but it seems telling that it got postponed. I'm not super well-versed on Canadian politics, but my impression was that conservatives will win the next election since Trudeau is so unpopular and then MAID is gone. Correct me if I'm wrong, not an expert.

But I think more telling is that the cultural norms/acceptance isn't there. I 100% agree that CTB is easier to justify than abortion, but I don't think this is a widespread opinion. Even if it is, I don't think reasoning trumps emotion here. People can't seem to understand why anyone would want to CTB or why they should be enabled. I mean you have foreign press who visit Belgium to talk about their euthanasia program, and there's always this exoticism to it, like "wow can you believe this is a thing?!" And the foreign press don't understand the reason for CTB of course. At least this was the impression I got from coverage from economist, BBC, NPR, NYT

You're awfully optimistic about this (I mean I do hope it works out, just not sure about the chances of that). I also think that the reason there isn't much activism here is because (a) people leave (CTB people can't contribute and recovered people are ideally putting energy into enjoying life or something) and (b) the people who are here typically have other things to worry about. But again, i hope things do get better. I'm just not inclined to believe they will.

If the conservatives win, they say they don't want the expansion for mental illness, but MAID as it is now will stay intact. This is what they say now when they're campaigning. If they get elected, they will likely back off quite a bit on this campaign rhetoric. We all know that what political parties say or promise to get elected isn't always the case once they are elected.

Again, it all boils down to the political pressure that they are faced with. The funny thing is for me personally, I was never a big fan of Trudeau in the past, and now all of a sudden I am lol.

I'm extremely optimistic about this issue, because I see what's happening globally, especially in countries like Switzerland with the Pegasos organization for example. Pegasos, has adopted the philosophy that everyone has the right to choose the manner and timing of their death, regardless of their state of health. When you look at the big picture, this is where the entire world is quickly headed.

Yes there will be a political party here and there that feels differently about it, but the vast majority of human beings are starting to wake up and smell the coffee. They're starting to realize the fundamental & core truth that we will always have on our side, that forcing people to suffer is just wrong, plain and simple. Some countries are more progressive than others, but soon most democratic countries will have the right idea.

 

[ctb2soble]

I'm a Canadian, and I can tell you that Canada is teetering right on the edge of expanding MAID to include mental illness as the sole cause of suffering. We just need a little bit more political pressure, which can come from people like us in this forum.

Once Canada has approved it, I can guarantee that many other countries will start to follow suit quickly. Apparently Belgium has ALREADY approved this, I was not aware of that until it was mentioned on this thread! Depression 100% qualifies as a long-term disability in Canada, along with bipolar and others.

Also, if there's enough political pressure, I'm sure that the 2027 delay could be moved up to a sooner date in Canada. Belgium has broken through the psychological barrier of allowing MAID for mental illness (solely), so this will make it much easier for other countries like Canada to follow suit quickly. This is happening people, we're passing the tipping point now!

I hope so, because although I do think there should be safeguards to stop people from making rashes decisions to ctb, I don't think it should be completely barred. Also that would be one less burden on my family since you can still have insurance paid out for deaths through the MAID program.

Yes, Benelux has approved it, and Switzerland has dignitas and their ilk, so some countries at least tolerate it. I don't think it will expand very much (or not quickly). You mention Canada's MAID program, but it seems telling that it got postponed. I'm not super well-versed on Canadian politics, but my impression was that conservatives will win the next election since Trudeau is so unpopular and then MAID is gone. Correct me if I'm wrong, not an expert.

But I think more telling is that the cultural norms/acceptance isn't there. I 100% agree that CTB is easier to justify than abortion, but I don't think this is a widespread opinion. Even if it is, I don't think reasoning trumps emotion here. People can't seem to understand why anyone would want to CTB or why they should be enabled. I mean you have foreign press who visit Belgium to talk about their euthanasia program, and there's always this exoticism to it, like "wow can you believe this is a thing?!" And the foreign press don't understand the reason for CTB of course. At least this was the impression I got from coverage from economist, BBC, NPR, NYT

You're awfully optimistic about this (I mean I do hope it works out, just not sure about the chances of that). I also think that the reason there isn't much activism here is because (a) people leave (CTB people can't contribute and recovered people are ideally putting energy into enjoying life or something) and (b) the people who are here typically have other things to worry about. But again, i hope things do get better. I'm just not inclined to believe they will.

I can't speak for other countries, but in Canada there has been alot of misinformation campaigning against MAID. The stories of people with horrible illnesses dying with dignity through it are silenced while the media hypes up fear mongering tales of MAID officials visiting disabled veterans and offering them MAID instead of medical care. So now people just assume that allowing MAID access to open to more people will give the government a license to kill off more people so they can save some money on the federal and provincial healthcare budgets.

 

[Kitsunekia90]

I'm not even asking you about Italy, as already said in other posts if you accompany someone to Switzerland you get arrested. so imagine if they take it into consideration for Italy and even more absurd for people who suffer from illnesses due to depression or mental disorders.

 

[Praying 4 a Miracle]

I hope so, because although I do think there should be safeguards to stop people from making rashes decisions to ctb, I don't think it should be completely barred. Also that would be one less burden on my family since you can still have insurance paid out for deaths through the MAID program.

I can't speak for other countries, but in Canada there has been alot of misinformation campaigning against MAID. The stories of people with horrible illnesses dying with dignity through it are silenced while the media hypes up fear mongering tales of MAID officials visiting disabled veterans and offering them MAID instead of medical care. So now people just assume that allowing MAID access to open to more people will give the government a license to kill off more people so they can save some money on the federal and provincial healthcare budgets.

There's definitely a battle going on, but that's why those who are doing verbal battle on our behalf need our help! Misinformation is often used in political jousting, even in major elections. That is no reason to believe that we're losing, we are in fact making incredible progress globally, we just need to speed up the process!

 

[babouflo201223]

Non, il y a aussi des personnes qui sont admissibles sans être en phase terminale. Il suffit qu'il s'agisse d'un problème médical. Il y a aussi un projet de loi qui a été retardé et qui permettrait que la maladie mentale soit la seule cause de souffrance admissible. Étant donné que cela inclurait la dépression, cela ferait de notre programme d'AMM une euthanasie quasi universelle.

Le report doit permettre au système de santé de se préparer à l'expansion. Des progrès importants sont réalisés, mais il ne faut pas se reposer sur ses lauriers. D'autres pays observent ce qui se passe au Canada et en Suisse et suivront rapidement l'exemple dès que la pression politique sera suffisamment forte.

Please, don't be again so optimistic with Switzerland. Neither Dignitas nor Pegasos give the green light when the reason is depression or mental illness. They say NO.