Bill C7 is currently being debated by our Parliamentarians. The government wants to pass Bill C-7 by Friday, February 26th, which includes amendments that would make Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) more available than it currently is.
Here are some of the details:
With the Senate amendments, Bill C-7 will allow assisted death for Canadians who are not facing imminent death. The Senate majority voted to remove the requirement that a person’s death must be “reasonably foreseeable” in order to be eligible for Medically Assisted Suicide, (MAiD). The bill establishes two streams of eligibility: those whose natural death is foreseeable, and those whose natural death is not foreseeable.
For those whose death is reasonably foreseeable, Bill C7 is removing some key safeguards that were established in 2016:
- the 10-day reflection period between the request and the hastened death
- the requirement that a person is able to consent at the time of the hastened death
- the amendments seek to remove the current two witnesses to confirm a patient’s willingness, to one witness
For those whose death is not foreseeable:
- the amended Bill also allows MAiD for those with mental illness
- allows advance requests by a person before they are diagnosed with an illness
Prayer Focus:
- Pray for the MPs that they will see the wisdom to oppose these amendments and the importance of applying stringent controls to this Bill.
- Pray that the current reflection period of 10 days would not be removed.
- That the current 2 person approval for a person requesting access to MAiD would not be removed to favour one person.
- Pray that those who are living with physical disabilities would not feel that their lives are seen as a burden or feel threatened by these proposed amendments. Pray for a culture that honours and celebrates all life, from conception to natural death.