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Content Warning: Portions of this entry make mention of suicide, which some may find difficult or upsetting. If you need support or are dealing with suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's website or call 1-800-273-8255.


Overview

Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAiD for short, refers to the legalization and implementation of assisted suicide in Canada. Canada's euthanasia laws have been a subject of criticism for a number of reasons, including a lack of safeguards, MAiD getting suggested to those not financially equipped to support a normal lifestyle, euthanasia becoming the sixth leading manner of death in the country in 2021, and people with severe mental illnesses becoming eligible for the assisted suicide in 2023.

History

In 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed Bill C-14, which amended the Canadian Criminal Code to legalize medical euthanasia and medically assisted suicide.[1] The bill did not allow medically assisted death for the mentally ill, people with long-term disabilities, those with curable conditions and minors. The system implemented a number of legal safeguards to prevent abuse and ensure informed consent, including consent having to be repeatedly expressed and two physicians independently confirming that the patient has an incurable grievous and irremediable medical condition that is in an advanced state of irreversible decline, and that the patient is capable and willing of receiving euthanasia.

In March 2021, the law was further amended by Bill C-7, which allowed assisted euthanasia in additional situations, including for patients whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable.

In 2021, more than 10,000 people in Canada died by euthanasia, accounting for 3.3 percent of all deaths in Canada, which made it the sixth leading manner of death in the country that year.[2][3]

Online Reactions

On August 13th, 2022, Twitter[4][5] users @Methadone_Cat and @StephTaitWrites posted a tweet claiming that MAiD became the sixth leading cause of death in Canada. The tweet gained over 1,300 retweets and 4,200 likes and 6,500 retweets and 17,600 likes in four months and triggered a viral debate (shown below, left and right).

Apurrcalypse Meow @Methadone_Cat When MAID has become the sixth leading cause of death in Canada we are well beyond "extraordinary circumstances" and "untreatable suffering". We've reached the "anyone who is somewhat inconvenient to treat" and are headed rapidly to "everyone who fails cost-benefit analysis". 9:05 AM Aug 13, 2022 ...
Stephanie Tait A thread Part of the reason disabled folks seem so DESPERATE when we're begging folks to get this pandemic under control is because we know what happens next is a more systematic extermination of the "burdens" on the overtaxed healthcare system. Don't believe us? Take a look... 91 Stephanie Tait @StephTaitWrites @StephTaitWrites - Aug 13 t 6,556 17.6K 2:40 PM. Aug 13, 2022 소 In Canada, legalized euthanasia (MAID) has become the sixth leading cause of death - and as many disabled activists have reported, a number of the disabled Canadians lost to MAID were *not* terminal, but were approved for MAID due to a lack of access to housing, support, etc Apurrcalypse Meow @Methadone_Cat - Aug 13 When MAID has become the sixth leading cause of death in Canada we are well beyond "extraordinary circumstances" and "untreatable suffering". We've reached the "anyone who is somewhat inconvenient to treat" and are headed rapidly to "everyone who fails cost-benefit analysis". Show this thread

A similar claim was made in a video posted by Facebook[6] page Turning Point USA on August 22nd which gained over 640 reactions and 450 likes in four months.

The claims became the subject of fact-checking articles. For example, on August 31st, 2022, AFP[7] posted an article investigating the claims and concluded that they were misleading.

The national statistics agency does not consider [euthanasia] an official cause of death, and most cases involve people with serious underlying health conditions.

The discussions were reignited in November 2022 after TikToker[8] @eggie.dang posted a video on November 12th in which she claimed that her doctor suggested MAiD over her severe treatment-resistant depression, which received over 1.8 million views and 343,600 likes in one month (shown below).

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7165246677358529797

On November 12th, 2022, Twitter[9] user @englishtrad posted a screenshot of the TikTok paired with the comment section in which a person claimed they would apply for MAiD as soon as they turned 18. On November 13th, YouTuber Shoe quote tweeted[10] the post. The tweet gained over 1,900 retweets and 18,600 likes in one month (shown below, right).

hannah + @englishtrad i can't comprehend how awful this is. When you have su severe treatment resistant d3pressio that even your doct suggests MAID 9:12 PM Nov 12, 2022 h n applying for maid as soon as i t 1m Reply . oh (for context i am terminally/chi ill lol) ... 22m Reply aoibh me 2 4m Reply
AFR shoe @shoeOnhead they really are just telling people with depression to kill themselves in canada. like thats not even a meme. hannah † @englishtrad Nov 12 i can't comprehend how awful this is. Show this thread . h n applying for maid as soon as i t Reply 1m When you have suc severe treatment resistant d3pressio ill lol) 10:50 AM Nov 13, 2022 that even your doct suggests MAID oh (for context i am terminally/chi 22m Reply aoibh me 2 4m Reply

Following the tweets, the debate over MAiD went viral on social media, spawning memes on Twitter, iFunny and other platforms.

Use in Memes

On September 5th, 2022, Redditor[11] GravyWaffle posted the earliest found meme about MAiD, a political compass meme that received over 11,600 upvotes in three months and was widely circulated through late 2022 (shown below).

AMERICAN CANADIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM | HEALTHCARE SYSTEM BILL Breathing... 1.00 Talking 5.00 Standing..... 10.00 Existing..... 2.00 Lollygagging... 2.00 Chewing........... 1.00 CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING

More memes about MAiD were posted online starting in November 2022. For example, on November 14th, artist @GPrime85 posted a cartoon that received over 2,900 retweets and 21,100 likes in one month (shown below, left). On December 7th, Twitter user @mask_bastard shared a Wojak Comic meme that gained over 630 retweets and 6,400 likes in one week (shown below, right).

1 I'm depressed, doctor. 000 100 Have you considered suicide? С Де 085
Daily Mail Disabled Canadian Army veteran Paralympian blasts government for offering to EUTHANIZE her when she complained about how long it was taking to install stairlift at her home MORE STORIES By Keith Griffith For Dailymail.com 07:11 03 Dec 2022, updated 07:38 03 Dec 2022 I'd like to get from the first floor of my house to the second. O Have you considered euthanasia?

Various Examples

9 Ow, this is gonna need stitches That'll be $58,000 I can help you in 38 months kill yourself k
"Death Penalty" "Medically-assisted Suicide" made with mematic SRGRAFO
FL shoe City News @shoeOnhead yooooooooooooo cure for poverty just dropped!!!!! MAID AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO POVERTY 7:47 PM Nov 13, 2022 ...

Search Interest

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