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RULES ON MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IN CANADA – Lisa Pauli wants to die.

To quote Reuters, the 47-year-old has struggled with the eating disorder anorexia for decades. In fact, he said he had a bad relationship with his body since he was 8 years old.

Lately, Pauli says, he’s only weighed 92 pounds and has gone days without eating solid food. She said she was too weak to carry the groceries home without stopping for a break.

“Every day is hell,” he said. “I’m so tired. I’m done. I’ve tried everything. I feel like I’ve lived my life.”

Pauli was legally unable to obtain medical assistance to die. Not yet.

The expanded criteria for assisted dying that will come into effect in March 2024 will allow Canadians like Pauli, whose only underlying condition is mental illness, to choose assisted dying.

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Canada legalized assisted dying in 2016 for people with serious illnesses and expanded it in 2021 for people with incurable, but non-fatal conditions. The legal change was prompted by a court ruling overturning the ban on assisting the dead.

According to a report by a panel of experts in the Canadian Parliament, the new mental health provisions will make Canada one of the most expansive countries in the world in terms of medical assistance in dying (MAID).

Proponents of physician-assisted dying – which is still a new concept in many parts of the world – say it’s a matter of personal autonomy.

But six disability and religious rights advocates told Reuters that the pace of changes planned for Canada’s assisted death framework carries additional risks for people who choose MAID because they cannot unable to access social services – the shortcomings of which could exacerbate their suffering.

Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti dismissed criticism that the country was moving too fast or opening the system to abuse. Some disability rights advocates have called for the current framework to be rescinded because they argue it puts people with disabilities at risk.

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“We reached our position through a number of very careful steps,” Lametti said in an interview with Reuters in June. “It’s been a slow and careful evolution. And I’m proud of it.”