The Canadian government has announced plans to begin euthanizing “drug addicts” and citizens with a range of mental illnesses.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s administration is planning to relax the current “assisted suicide” laws to include more Canadians who have become a burden on the taxpayer-funded state healthcare system.
However, critics are comparing the move to “modern-day eugenics.”
When Canada’s law medically assisted dying (MAID) law changes in March 2024, mental health patients, including those with substance abuse issues, with no other physical ailments will be eligible to be legally euthanized by the state.
A special parliamentary committee in the coming months is due to re-scrutinize the controversial move ahead of the rollout, following pushback from Trudeau’s opponents in Canada.
Daily Mail reports: More than 10,000 Canadians were euthanized in 2021, a tenfold increase over 2016 when the practice was legalized.
Some cases have involved people experiencing poverty agreeing to die.
Currently, people with mental illnesses such as depression and personality disorders with no physical conditions are not eligible for assisted suicide.
A framework for assessing people with substance use disorders for MAID is being discussed at an annual scientific conference held in Canada this week.
The agenda for the workshop includes