Catholic health group leader urges pause on efforts to expand MAiD

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This article was published 15/01/2024 (994 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Instead of MAiD — Medical Assistance in Dying — Julie Turenne-Maynard wants Canadians to support MAiL — Mission Assistance in Living.

Turenne-Maynard, executive director of the Catholic Health Association of Manitoba, has started a petition to call on the federal government to pause its efforts to expand MAiD to people with mental illness, and instead provide more support to help them live.

“We need better supports for living, not just easier access to dying,” she said.

She hopes the petition ignites “support for a life-affirming approach to the care, dignity and well-being of all Canadians,” she said.

MAiD, which exempts health-care providers from prosecution for facilitating medical assistance in dying, became legal in 2016. Medical staff can administer medication to directly cause a person’s death at their request or prescribe or provide medication that a person can use to cause their own death.

In 2019, the Superior Court of Quebec declared the original criteria — adults with a “reasonable foreseeability of natural death” — unconstitutional, arguing it violated the rights of those with a qualifying mental disorder.

The federal government agreed to expand eligibility in 2021, but a final decision was delayed until March 2024, at which time it could be paused again.

Turenne-Maynard would like improved access to services for people with disabilities, for seniors — including more support for personal care homes — and for anyone else suffering from “poverty, isolation and loneliness.”

By providing better support and services, they might not decide to get a medically assisted death, she said. This would include those facing the end of their lives due to illness. “We need more and better palliative care options,” she said, adding there aren’t enough palliative and hospice care beds in Manitoba.

Turenne-Maynard is inviting individuals, faith groups, First Nations and others to sign the petition to send a message to Ottawa.

“So many people will be affected by the expansion of MAiD,” she said. “I want to create a groundswell of support. We can do so much more in this country that is life-affirming.”

Her goal is to urge the federal government to prioritize mental health services and other supports for vulnerable people.

“We need policies that ensure all Canadians have access to comprehensive supports that meet both their medical and basic life needs,” she said.

Turenne-Maynard’s commitment to MAiL — a term she coined with assistance from others in the association — flows from her Roman Catholic faith.

“I believe in the dignity of all people and want to follow the example of the healing ministry of Jesus,” she said, adding her efforts also are the result of “a desire to act for the common good, to care for neighbours, and to be especially aware of the needs of the vulnerable.”

For her, “there is so much more that can be done that is life-affirming. We just need the commitment and the funding,” she said.

If that doesn’t happen, she fears more Canadians may feel they are a burden on society and seek out a medically assisted death.

“Nobody should feel that way,” she said.

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