Medical aid in dying (Quebec) - News of potential changes

[alizee]

I spoke to a lawyer on the phone today and was told there is a real possibility of the current criteria changing for Medical aid in Dying (MAID) in Quebec.

Backstory: A court case was brought forward by two persons six months ago. They are grossly disabled and desiring death but are restricted by the criteria of MAID in needing to be at the end of life.

Well the lawyer on the phone said the requirement "Be at the end of life" might be removed from the list.

Here is the current criteria for MAID in Quebec:
For a person wishing to obtain medical aid in dying

• Be insured according to the Health Insurance Act
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be capable of giving consent to care, which means the person must be able to understand the situation and the information given by health professionals as well as make decisions
• Be at the end of life
• Suffer from a serious, incurable illness
• Be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
• Experience constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner the person deems tolerable.

The decision if it will be removed or not is going to happen sometime in August. This will be a huge win for people suffering an illness that's intolerable because of the psychological pain and even if there is no physical pain. Thought it would be best to share this news because someone else might be in Quebec as well. MAID gives the option of having your loved ones be with you at the time you die. That's a wonderful gift instead of an isolated suicide. I suffer the illness gender dysphoria and will definitely be following this because I've spoken to a few doctors here in Quebec. They tell me that "Be at the end of life" is preventing them. I haven't been happy for the next few weeks in a long time.

 

[inconsequential]

I spoke to a lawyer on the phone today and was told there is a real possibility of the current criteria changing for Medical aid in Dying (MAID) in Quebec.

Backstory: A court case was brought forward by two persons six months ago. They are grossly disabled and desiring death but are restricted by the criteria of MAID in needing to be at the end of life.

Well the lawyer on the phone said the requirement "Be at the end of life" might be removed from the list.

Here is the current criteria for MAID in Quebec:
For a person wishing to obtain medical aid in dying

• Be insured according to the Health Insurance Act
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be capable of giving consent to care, which means the person must be able to understand the situation and the information given by health professionals as well as make decisions
• Be at the end of life
• Suffer from a serious, incurable illness
• Be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
• Experience constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner the person deems tolerable.

The decision if it will be removed or not is going to happen sometime in August. This will be a huge win for people suffering an illness that's intolerable because of the psychological pain and even if there is no physical pain. Thought it would be best to share this news because someone else might be in Quebec as well. MAID gives the option of having your loved ones be with you at the time you die. That's a wonderful gift instead of an isolated suicide. I suffer the illness gender dysphoria and will definitely be following this because I've spoken to a few doctors here in Quebec. They tell me that "Be at the end of life" is preventing them. I haven't been happy for the next few weeks in a long time.

Do you have to be a resident of Quebec?

I hope that you can find the peace that you're seeking, and that your country makes a compassionate decision that allows for that.

 

[alizee]

Do you have to be a resident of Quebec?

I hope that you can find the peace that you're seeking, and that your country makes a compassionate decision that allows for that.

Thanks for your comment, nothing is in stone yet but I feel like this is the miracle I've been hoping for and it's been a long time to see one in my life.

The criteria part "Be insured according to the Health Insurance Act" answers yes to your question. This prevents tourism from another country to Quebec for medical assistance in dying. I doubt that will change anytime in this generation of assuming death is not such a tragic event. I consider the tragedy in my life being born at a timeframe where religion abuses transgender kids from ever getting on puberty blockers. Now I get to see kids be privileged in a city where religion is almost dead.

Anyway, I haven't been following MAID elsewhere in Canada but moving to Quebec isn't super difficult because cost of living here is cheaper than elsewhere in Canada. I live in Montreal which is an english speaking city so not knowing french is not a huge requirement like elsewhere in Quebec.

This is such a big deal for me and I'm still worried doctors will come up with another excuse if the change goes through. People really have a cognitive dissonance when it comes to a transgender woman that is visually transgender because of being born into a religious family and thus wanting to die because life is just not worth living when people consider you a freak everyday. It's like the "it may get better" nonsense was just created to ignore a situation like mine, that shows how this world truly does torture by persons with good intentions that force it (religion) on their kids and ruining the child's life but making it a hell on earth.

I'm also trying to get cosmetic surgeries for reversing the damage of puberty to my voice & face. It would be nice to see how it's like to be treated like a woman by others in society before I die but I'm giving up soon because I'm approaching 30 with little finances to afford anything. So I've been using my energy for that as well as seeking MAID. In a few months I'm going to court for seeing if the surgeries should be covered because I was already denied by the insurance board of doctors reviewing the request from my doctor's recommendation. I've only heard of US transgender women or men getting coverage from insurance for "cosmetic" surgeries. The tribunal administrative court will decide in a few months if they will reverse the decision by the province health insurance. I found out literally this week that my court event would happen in a month or two and so now I finally have something for looking forward to besides MAID as another option besides just hanging or ordering N.

 

[stoney126]

Do you have to be a resident of Quebec?

I hope that you can find the peace that you're seeking, and that your country makes a compassionate decision that allows for that.

IIRC, yes. They have a residency requirement because they do not want to risk suicidal tourism (people traveling from other countries to Quebec in order to be euthanized).

The United States has a pretty similar system in Washington state AFAIK. Similar limitations though; immense amount of pain, terminal illness, end of life, signed off by multiple doctors, etc. And it is still pretty controversial.

These are great steps in the right direction, and hopefully they can change some of the public's perception of CTB, but it is still a long way off from normalizing it for people who have free will and want to CTB.

 

[calendulo]

Below Be at the end of life, says:
Suffer from a serious, incurable illness.
And then, Be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability.

A quite time ago, two or three months. Read in papers that in Swiss (one and single place over the worls where It can to request euthanasia to a foreigner) a brit citizen have asked it. Reason was Vital exhaustion (sorry for translate, it is literally)
No illness, nothing about that.

Just a curiosity, no matched yet.

 

[alizee]

free will and want to CTB.

Free will is an illusion and it doesn't exist in reality.

 

[calendulo]

Free will is an illusion and it doesn't exist in reality.

Free will or tired of living. Everyone will have their reason. I think both are same thing.

 

[alizee]

Free will or tired of living. Everyone will have their reason. I think both are same thing.

Life is like a prison forced into and we don't even have real choice when it comes to being tired or not. Everything is just cause & effect. It's impossible to make a choice or decision that's truly one's own. Nobody can make a choice or decision without being effected by what encompasses them and with all the external forces being inflicted upon them as well.
Suicide is thus a natural death when it happens because it couldn't have been different. People assume it could have been different by assuming it was a choice but in reality we don't have choice that's our own.

 

[Thanatos]

Thanks for the info! Hope this is applied to Ontario as well, if not I'll likely be moving to Quebec

 

[stoney126]

Life is like a prison forced into and we don't even have real choice when it comes to being tired or not. Everything is just cause & effect. It's impossible to make a choice or decision that's truly one's own. Nobody can make a choice or decision without being effected by what encompasses them and with all the external forces being inflicted upon them as well.
Suicide is thus a natural death when it happens because it couldn't have been different. People assume it could have been different by assuming it was a choice but in reality we don't have choice that's our own.

I guess. But that is really basic; insinuating that none of us have free will. That I don't have free will to type this right now instead of watching a movie. That I don't have free will to choose to CTB.

Like yeah, I get it. But under that notion; nothing we ever do, have done, or any human has ever done throughout history has been their choice. So why are we punishing them? Why punish someone who enslaves an entire nation, or someone who massacres an entire ethnicity? It wasn't their choice, they don't have free will.

It isn't wrong, it is just so basic that it completely ignores the fact that we are humans; or even animals. I get it if you are a deterministic, I just disagree.

But substitute it with "from people who should have the option to CTB if they choose to" if that makes you feel better.

 

[alizee]

I guess. But that is really basic; insinuating that none of us have free will. That I don't have free will to type this right now instead of watching a movie. That I don't have free will to choose to CTB.

Like yeah, I get it. But under that notion; nothing we ever do, have done, or any human has ever done throughout history has been their choice. So why are we punishing them? Why punish someone who enslaves an entire nation, or someone who massacres an entire ethnicity? It wasn't their choice, they don't have free will.

It isn't wrong, it is just so basic that it completely ignores the fact that we are humans; or even animals. I get it if you are a deterministic, I just disagree.

But substitute it with "from people who should have the option to CTB if they choose to" if that makes you feel better.

Yes that's correct. Nothing in history has ever been decided by the persons doing the acts. History has been awful because the output resembles the current system and when its imperfect for the "beings" living in it. Genetics & environment factoring into the equation of social systems and where finances dictate living conditions as well as education. Inequality is from an imperfect system we live in.

The why punish rhetoric you write is a common response. Yes, punishment doesn't make sense because the person committing a wrong didn't have control because the person's birth into a certain life decided the fate. Knowing this is fairly uncommon among criminals and I'm curious if crime would possibly decrease if people were more educated; thus improving the system we live in and that shapes us all. I'm a hard determinist and I know I likely would have sought vengeance if it wasn't for understanding the people that wronged me had no control in how they came to be in life. Furthermore, understanding determinism makes one realize a rehabilitation modal makes more sense than a punishment modal.

People don't choose suicide. The belief that they do with the labeling of "depression" is the downfall of mental health assumed by society members for helping the misfortunate. Each person is an individual in a reality that shapes the person based on the unique forces exerted upon the person and where the uniqueness comes from the order differing with genetics at play as well. All of this makes for experiences that are sometimes relatable and other times not. Some people have events that truly make them damaged to desiring death and where suicide occurs. Suicide wouldn't have happened if they didn't become damaged and by the events in their life being different but fate wasn't kind to them. Sometimes the nature of the person sculpted by fate makes suicide an impossibility to perform. Whatever the case may be.. confusion & people being deluded from reality keeps mental healthcare poor because individual problems are not universally cared for by one shared treatment. Similar is why labeling is so dangerous under one shared illness name.

The point of medical assistance in dying is when life is so painful but we humans want to give dignity to the ones that reality has decided that their time is up. I rather die with the opportunity to be next to loved ones than an isolated death and where loved ones could possibly face criminal charges if I'm not having death from a medically administrated process. The ability to less restrict the privilege of death while near loved ones is progress or evolution if you want to call it that. Similar the word reality can be replaced with nature or even god. Basically whatever you want to name it.

 

[Sailfisher]

Living in Quebec makes one suicidal.

 

[alizee]

Living in Quebec makes one suicidal.

How so? Do you live in Montreal or somewhere else in Quebec. I cannot imagine myself ever committing suicide if I lived here younger in life and because the people of Montreal are so accepting of diversity. I likely could have got on hormone blockers young and had a decent life during my development years from childhood to adulthood. The only thing I dislike about Montréal is the road construction but I've heard it's because the city is so old.

 

[pole]

Living in Quebec makes one suicidal.

eh not to me. Montreals really fun. i go there for parties on my university trips for the weekends to spend there with our school, and its AMAZING for partying and having a great time. reminds me of being in toronto, but ofc, torontos better.

 

[alizee]

eh not to me. Montreals really fun. i go there for parties on my university trips for the weekends to spend there with our school, and its AMAZING for partying and having a great time. reminds me of being in toronto, but ofc, torontos better.

I only have visited Toronto once for two days and the university there seems really nice. I heard cost of renting is way higher though. I've had mixed input from people about Toronto but my experience was awesome.

 

[pole]

Torontos amazing period lol. but the one thing i do hate yeah is the expenses. renting is pricey and so is the retail market in general. and the cut to school loans and grants we get, which sucks.

 

[alizee]

Torontos amazing period lol. but the one thing i do hate yeah is the expenses. renting is pricey and so is the retail market in general. and the cut to school loans and grants we get, which sucks.

Cost of living in general is just getting so aggressively expensive.

Even here in Montreal rent is rising and housing costs are just ridiculous. I'm surprised if it's not somewhat factored into the reason people are committing suicide at an increase rate than the previous generations. I think the social media blame is nonsense. Inequality is just getting worse because wages are not adjusting for the lower class jobs. Contrary to the wages increasing for the upperclass in those CEO positions. The Canadian dollar being low is also more strain on the young here in Canada.

Anyhow, inflation with wages staying stagnant is unbearable and with understanding that homes are now 3-5x more than what the previous generation had to pay & save up for purchasing a place to call home. I think there needs to be a political force that requires 'x' amount of affordable homes for the younger generation be built every year. Instead of construction building expensive homes that are unaffordable and designed for people dropping 300k+. I know a lot of transgender friends that cannot imagine affording surgeries if not for parents that actually love them and want them to succeed. Or fate loves them and has a company they work for pay the bill.

Nevertheless, I could theorize other factors that are resulting in all this but what's the point.
The cut to student loans is unforgivable and the young really should be revolting. The older generation has basically made a high school diploma worthless. So people are forced into debt.

 

[alizee]

[UPDATE August 22, 2019]

Next week is likely going to be the press conference! Information should be released if the criteria for Medical Assistance in Dying will be updated or not. Maybe changes made for something more reasonable and so people with an illness that doesn't result in a foreseeable death can be eligible candidates.

Source from Quebec representative:
Bonjour Madame (deleted),

Par la présente, nous confirmons la réception de votre courriel du 16 août dernier, adressé à la ministre.

Nous prenons en considération votre demande et lui apportons toute l'attention qu'il se doit. Cependant, nous vous inviter à communiquer de nouveau avec nous au cours des prochaines semaines au vu des annonces sur ce sujet qui seront effectuées dans les médias.

Veuillez agréer, madame (deleted), l'expression de nos sentiments les meilleurs.

 

[alizee]

Anyone thats been following this thread might be wondering what happened.

So far no announcement has been made.

I've been upset & with wondering what's happening and so I called around to find out the announcement should be "soon" but no date is being given other than sometime in September which is this month. I called last week and was told "soon" but earlier from someone else in the government.

In any case I hope the announcement is next week because it would be a great gift to finally know what's happening.

 

[alizee]

Judgement has been ruled that people with illnesses where death isn't foreseeable, shouldn't be restricted or denied access to medical assistance in dying.

Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/lif...wn-parts-of-laws-on-medically-assisted-death/

So now there will be six months of arguments in the news about this judgement (possibly). I assume things might go well from knowing Quebec compared to other parts of Canada. The only exception is if religious healthcare practitioners manage to delude people and result in excluding psychological illnesses but that would be unconstitutional & against the judgement as viewed in the link above.

Anyway things are looking good for where I live. I just wonder how hard it will be to find a doctor that will honour the law after six months have past from today.

 

[Thanatos]

Judgement has been ruled that people with illnesses where death isn't foreseeable, shouldn't be restricted or denied access to medical assistance in dying.

Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/lif...wn-parts-of-laws-on-medically-assisted-death/

So now there will be six months of arguments in the news about this judgement (possibly). I assume things might go well from knowing Quebec compared to other parts of Canada. The only exception is if religious healthcare practitioners manage to delude people and result in excluding psychological illnesses but that would be unconstitutional & against the judgement as viewed in the link above.

Anyway things are looking good for where I live. I just wonder how hard it will be to find a doctor that will honour the law after six months have past from today.

This is great news! Thank you for sharing

 

[c824767]

I spoke to a lawyer on the phone today and was told there is a real possibility of the current criteria changing for Medical aid in Dying (MAID) in Quebec.

Backstory: A court case was brought forward by two persons six months ago. They are grossly disabled and desiring death but are restricted by the criteria of MAID in needing to be at the end of life.

Well the lawyer on the phone said the requirement "Be at the end of life" might be removed from the list.

Here is the current criteria for MAID in Quebec:
For a person wishing to obtain medical aid in dying

• Be insured according to the Health Insurance Act
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Be capable of giving consent to care, which means the person must be able to understand the situation and the information given by health professionals as well as make decisions
• Be at the end of life
• Suffer from a serious, incurable illness
• Be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
• Experience constant and unbearable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be relieved in a manner the person deems tolerable.

The decision if it will be removed or not is going to happen sometime in August. This will be a huge win for people suffering an illness that's intolerable because of the psychological pain and even if there is no physical pain. Thought it would be best to share this news because someone else might be in Quebec as well. MAID gives the option of having your loved ones be with you at the time you die. That's a wonderful gift instead of an isolated suicide. I suffer the illness gender dysphoria and will definitely be following this because I've spoken to a few doctors here in Quebec. They tell me that "Be at the end of life" is preventing them. I haven't been happy for the next few weeks in a long time.

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