Regarding the parliamentary committee recommending expanding medical assistance in dying to minors, Canadians are expressing concern about the rapid expansion to Canada’s euthanasia laws. For this reason, the current government is trying to delay one of the expansions that has already been approved (allowing vulnerable people with mental illness to ask a doctor to euthanize them).
Therefore it is reckless that a joint committee of the House of Commons recommended this week that our euthanasia laws be expanded even further, this time to minors.
As the father of a teenager who had a terminal cancer and died last year, it is heartbreaking to think of future families who will have to navigate a healthcare system that has an option of giving up on their child.
We should never end a child’s life prematurely by way of euthanasia, but rather, focus on providing robust palliative and hospice care so they can live a short life well.
Mike Schouten
Chilliwack
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