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For those who follow me outside of the disability world/Canada/both:
Canada is currently having a discussion about Medically Assisted Suicide or #MAiD with #BillC7
During a pandemic.
While cutting/underfunding support for disabled services/income support.
A thread...
Canada is currently having a discussion about Medically Assisted Suicide or #MAiD with #BillC7
During a pandemic.
While cutting/underfunding support for disabled services/income support.
A thread...
Others have done extensive work talking about this in the last few months and bringing attention to it while I've been in school, which I've been grateful for.
But if you don't know this is happening, or don't understand what the challenge of it is, read on...
But if you don't know this is happening, or don't understand what the challenge of it is, read on...
Because whatever your moral or ethical beliefs about suicide, this legislation sets up assisted suicide as far, far easier to access in Canada than housing (especially affordable/accessible housing), independent living supports (nursing, personal care, one on one supports)...
Medical care (including access to the right specialists and treatment options in a timely manner, access to fully funded pharmacare that covers ALL necessary medications), and access to a basic income assistance that will allow a possible, much less meaningful quality of life...
Those who are proponents of this new law are largely able bodied. For some reason it is very easy for them to think that if they were disabled they would want to end their own lives, but impossible for them to think of what the best way to help in that situation would be...
This is an extremely limited understanding of the situation.
For the record:
BEING DISABLED ISN'T A BAD THING.
The challenges in my life are not primarily from my disabilities, but from the lack of accessible disability supports...
For the record:
BEING DISABLED ISN'T A BAD THING.
The challenges in my life are not primarily from my disabilities, but from the lack of accessible disability supports...
What makes life hard is the need to fight for every single support we need, and the constant push back we receive from medical gatekeepers to get that basic, adequate support...
Apparently this is radical, so I will spell it out:
If you can't walk, you should have access to a wheelchair.
If you can't get it into your home, you should have access to an accessible home (whatever your income level)...
If you can't walk, you should have access to a wheelchair.
If you can't get it into your home, you should have access to an accessible home (whatever your income level)...
If you can't perform your own personal care, you should have attendant care that is available for as many hours of the day as you need it.
If you can't eat or toilet in the abled way, you should have $$ support for ALL of the supplies needed to do so safely...
If you can't eat or toilet in the abled way, you should have $$ support for ALL of the supplies needed to do so safely...
If you are dependent on expensive medications or therapies, those should be covered. Even if you need an unusual or expensive option because you can't use the regular versions for some reason (because you are disabled)...
If you need supports for daily living - to work through paperwork, make a grocery list, do your house work, have a shower, run your errands - these supports should be available...
If you need access to specialists who will do more than tell you that your disability is all in your head, that you're lying about your pain because you're addicted to pain pills, or simply leave you indefinitely on a wait list, you should have access to this...
And if you can't work because of your disability, you should have access to income support at the same level as all other Canadians - and certainly high enough that you can afford to feed yourself all three meals, every day, after you've paid your rent in a major city...
(because, after all, they're the only places you can possibly get proper medical care in this country!)...
Do I think that some small segment of palliative-headed patients may genuinely want support in ending their lives, regardless of supports? Probably.
But do I think that makes this law, as it stands, in a country with utterly inadequate disability supports appropriate? No way!...
But do I think that makes this law, as it stands, in a country with utterly inadequate disability supports appropriate? No way!...
Canada needs Universal Home Care, Universal Pharmacare, 21st century responses to hard-to-diagnose conditions, publicly funded and available independent accessible and/or supported housing, and Universal Basic Income...
If you really, really want #MAiD after all of that, come back and let's talk about how it is accessed and what supports are given to protect vulnerable patients.
But until we have ALL of the supports listed above, this is not a conversation we should even be having.
But until we have ALL of the supports listed above, this is not a conversation we should even be having.
