Op-Ed by Professor Trudo Lemmens: Canada must learn lessons from Belgium on assisted dying

In an op-ed for the Montreal Gazette, Trudo Lemmens addresses how Canada must learn lessons from Belgium on assisted dying.

He writes:

"The same week our federal government launched public consultations on proposed revisions to our Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) law, criminal proceedings started in Belgium against three physicians for their role in the death of Tine Nys. Diagnosed in 2010 at age 37 with Asperger’s, Nys received MAID under Belgium’s liberal euthanasia regime.

Read: Expert Advisory Group Releases Report on Assisted Dying and Mental Disorders

Regardless of the trial’s outcome, the case highlights the challenges of allowing MAID for persons with chronic physical, developmental and mental disabilities not being close to their natural death. Belgium and the Netherlands are the only jurisdictions that allow this. Now we might be heading on the same path in response to the recent Truchon decision by the Superior Court of Quebec, which declared the “reasonable foreseeable death” criterion of MAID unconstitutional."

Read the full op-ed in the Montreal Gazette