As the number of Canadians dying by euthanasia increases, it is time to wake up to the toll so-called medical assistance in dying (MAID) is having on professionals, beyond the medical field..A law student recently shared with me about a will and power-of-attorney assessment that left her “dumbfounded.”.An elderly couple, in good health and living independently, had come in to work on their will. The law student, who is working at a firm in Alberta over the summer, was asked to sit in on the meeting and observe..The student expected it to be a conventional discussion of will-related matters. In discussing end of life planning, the couple expressed their intention to focus their finances on remaining in their own home as long as possible..The wife then began discussing possible senior residences to which they might move, should the need ever arise..At that point, the husband expressed his disdain for seniors' homes. He then asked if, in the event he could no longer live independently, he could have an advance directive in his will asking to “get put to sleep.”.The law student was taken aback..“I hadn’t had on my radar that something like that would come up. I didn’t think someone would want to put in an advance directive not even pertaining to pain or a medical condition but more just around their living situation,” the student told me..Distaste for long-term care is not (yet) an eligibility criterion for euthanasia in Canada. But a person who otherwise meets the eligibility criteria could still be euthanized on the basis of their qualifying condition, even if their primary motivation concerns accommodations, affordability or other such considerations..With the passage of Bill C-7, the Liberal government legalized a form of “advance consent” for euthanasia. They removed the safeguard requiring contemporaneous consent before getting a lethal injection in cases where the person had already been approved for MAID..The next frontier for the euthanasia lobby, Dying with Dignity, is advance requests. With advance requests, people could indicate their request for euthanasia, as the Government of Canada puts it, “long in advance of when MAID would actually be desired and provided.”.Since advance requests are not legal, the law student was surprised at how the lawyer leading the meeting had been so apologetic about this..“[The lawyer] essentially apologized that we could not do it now, but said that things are loosening up and there may soon be changes to the legislation that would allow the couple to put in an advance request at a later date. The lawyer used entirely positive language about this saying, ‘it’s getting better, it’s advancing.’”.The law student said this interaction has been a cause for reflection..“These are difficult conversations about end of life. And instead of encouraging the couple, this appointment made the couple plan to revisit the topic and maybe get it into their will.”.The law student is adamant about not wanting to shy away from difficult conversations but also told me, “I would certainly not do wills and estates if I was compelled to put that [euthanasia/MAID] in.”.I spoke to another lawyer who works in estate planning. This lawyer confirmed that clients are increasingly expressing questions and concerns about MAiD..“Where is the community support? Even if they don’t have immediate family, we’ve got to work on supporting people so they don’t feel worthless and useless,” this lawyer remarked..For many professionals, the act of writing an advance request for euthanasia into a person’s will would constitute moral complicity..They could be facilitating the premature ending of a person’s life. Like the law student with whom I spoke, the lawyer confirmed a conscientious objection to becoming an accomplice to euthanasia through the drafting of estate planning documents..With the legalization and widespread acceptance of euthanasia in our society, we have seen the erosion of conscience rights for physicians..Now is the moment to work to uphold the freedom of conscience of other professionals who want no part in the intentional ending of people’s lives..Amanda Achtman holds degrees in political science, philosophy, and Judaic Studies. She is a Cardus NextGEN Fellow and a Tikvah Fund Krauthammer Fellow.
