MAID Law for Canadian Veterans?

If you are unfamiliar with the MAID Law in Canada, that stands for Medical Assistance In Dying. Yes, assisted suicide. Canada is currently on their second iteration of this law, revised not that long ago. Listen, if I was living some horrible and painful life with no outcome other than death in the somewhat foreseeable future, I would be open to this as an option. I am NOT making a statement about assisted suicide in the cases of terminally ill people. Actually, I’m in favor of this under certain circumstances.

However, there are two issues with the current version of the Canadian MAID Law that I do have issue with.

First issue: Written into the current version of the law is assisted suicide for people with NO OTHER health issue than mental health problems. Yes, you read that right. People without a medical issue that will end in death who only suffer from things like depression, PTSD, psychosis, and other mental health issues can opt for assisted suicide. In fairness, that was written into the law and then put on pause until March 2024, but it wasn’t REMOVED. It’s still there. Still on the books.

So, instead of treating someone through any number of proven methods of therapy, assisted suicide is an actual course of action that can be offered. To someone with a mental issue. Who may or may not be capable of making those decisions.

There was a time, back in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, where the mentally ill were executed by the state. Ring any bells? I’m not comparing Trudeau to Hitler, but a socialist country finding ways to rid itself of the mentally ill who will require state funded care for the potentially the rest of their lives sounds a little sketchy to me.

Second issue: This is less about what’s in the law itself, although that does play into it, but more about how it is being offered and to whom. There have been two documented and potentially another half dozen cases where VETERANS have been offered assisted suicide as an option for dealing with PTSD.

Again, you read that right. Men and women who served their nation in Afghanistan (I served with Canadians on two of my three tours) and came home with PTSD like so many of us, were offered assisted suicide to deal with it. Here in America, we are fighting DAILY because we know Veteran suicide is an issue. We’ve all heard the numbers…22 a day… and we continue to try to find ways to prevent it.

As a nation, really the citizens of the nation, we recognize the value our Veterans bring and the sacrifices they have made on behalf of the United States. There is a debt to be paid, things they are owed, and adequate care for service-related issues is the LEAST we can do for them. While we are doing what we can to prevent Veteran suicide, Canadian health providers have offered it up on a menu of treatment options.

Seriously Canada…What The Fuck?

Again, this isn’t a blog about assisted suicide. Not getting into personal beliefs on that topic, yours or mine, but more specifically addressing that it is an option for those who are mentally ill and, specifically, Veterans who suffer from things like PTSD.

I ask our friends from the north… Are you really OK with the MAID Law for Canadian Veterans?