Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Thériault Bloc Québécois
“My colleague misunderstands advance requests. People make these requests when they are still clear-minded, after learning they have a progressive disease. They know what to expect and can choose their own limits. People have the right to make their own health choices. They should be able to receive medical assistance in dying later, once they can no longer make choices for themselves. I see no moral problem with this unless someone has religious objections.”
“Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I think that my colleague is comparing apples and oranges. I also think that he misunderstands the very principle of an advance request. An advance request is made while a person is still of sound mind, after being diagnosed with a degenerative illness that progresses in stages. At the formal meeting where the patient’s criteria for what is tolerable are officially determined, the patient may even receive an explanation of what their will be like and what they will experience up to the end. Out of respect for the patient’s dignity and self-determination—in health matters, the law always gives precedence to the individual’s personal integrity—a person has a right to say they want to receive MAID when they become incapacitated and their tolerance threshold is met, if this is truly what they wanted and if their decision was based on an informed choice. I fail to see any moral issue there, unless a person is religious.”
Madam Speaker, with all due respect, I think that my colleague is comparing apples and oranges. I also think that he misunderstands the very principle of an advance request. An advance request is made while a person is still of sound mind, after being diagnosed with a degenerative illness that progresses in stages. At the formal meeting where the patient’s criteria for what is tolerable are officially determined, the patient may even receive an explanation of what their will be like and what they will experience up to the end. Out of respect for the patient’s dignity and self-determination—in health matters, the law always gives precedence to the individual’s personal integrity—a person has a right to say they want to receive MAID when they become incapacitated and their tolerance threshold is met, if this is truly what they wanted and if their decision was based on an informed choice. I fail to see any moral issue there, unless a person is religious.