The Final Exit: Medical Assistance in Dying, MAiD in Canada

MAiD was legalized in Canada in 2016, not so long ago. Medical Assistance in Dying has been contentious because there is a movement to include the irremediably mentally il as welll. Laws used to be narrow, only allowing euthanasia if the patient had a terminal disease like cancer and was in continuous chronic pain.

I've had two close friends die through the service of MAiD. I understand that the procedure is professional and painless, no more than falling asleep. That was what my two friends wanted, to die peacefully to end their pain.

Matt Scholtz died through the help of MAiD on Monday June 15, 2023, at the age of 77.
Adam, another friend, whose last name I will not mention, died with the assistance of MAiD on June 23, 2021, ten days after his 49th birthday.

I've explained how MAiD came about and evolved in Canada, hopefully informing the public about this new right to die sooner than "normal". I explore the moral implications of this issue in Canada, especially since MAiD's parameters will expand again in March 2024 to include the incurably mentally ill people.

The Final Exit also includes the story of my brother-in-law, Ken Janzen, who died of lung cancer at the age of 37. In 2008, MAiD was not available then. I also include my sister's story, Renate Hartig, who died in 2016 of Multiple Sclerosis at the age of 67 just before MAiD was legalized.

While the use of MAiD is spreading in Canada as a benign method to die, it must be noted that some people are uneasy about its application, that the procedure may not be as simple as falling asleep. An article in LifeSiteNews contends that the first needle paralyzes the body while other injections make the body drown in its own fluids. [LifeSiteNews: Wed 29, 2024]

Author: John Hartig

Publisher: Independently Published

Publication Date: Jul 21, 2023

Number of Pages: 260 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: NA

ISBN-13: 9798853120969