One of my biggest frustrations with some (American) progressives/leftists is that they think socialized medicine is obviously better for disabled people. It’s not profit driven, so that’s better, right?

No. And the conversation around #BillC7 in Canada is a prime example of why

Socialized systems like the ones in Canada and Europe are funded by the government. They’re absolutely spectacular for normal healthcare issues. For example, the average cost of a hospital birth in the US quite a lot. In Canada, it’s zero dollars. https://www.thecut.com/2018/12/how-much-does-it-actually-cost-to-give-birth.html

But for people who need long-term care, like people with significant disabilities, things get much thornier. Socialized healthcare systems still operate on a budget, even without profit motive, and some people are considerably more expensive to keep alive than others.

So you still end up with conversations around how much should be spent on people who aren’t going to get “better.” On what kinds of lives are worth living. Non-disabled people, particularly doctors, are spectacularly bad at determining disabled quality of life.

A lot of non-disabled people think quality of life for disabled people is just intrinsically worse. The problem, to them, is our bodies, and not the inaccessibility of the world around us. Being in a wheelchair is just obviously worse than walking, right?

A good life for a disabled person involves all the same things a good life for a non-disabled person involves: A sense of purpose, financial stability, human relationships.

And we’re locked out of those things. Not by our bodies, but by an inaccessible society.

Making the world accessible is expensive. Healthcare that adequately serves the needs of disabled people is expensive.

But we’re cheaper when we’re dead. And that’s where medically assisted suicide comes in.

In a world where disabled people are respected, included, and adequately supported in society, I would absolutely support assisted suicide.

But that’s not the world we live in. Not in the US. Not in Canada. Not in any European country.

#BillC7 isn’t about choice or mercy. It’s about cutting healthcare costs. Disabled people are cheaper when we’re dead.