Dying With Dignity
Jane Thrall
My dog was fourteen years old when she stopped eating without warning.
She’d always had a healthy appetite so I suspected something was wrong,
and I took her to the veterinarian.
Sure enough, testing showed
that she had several tumors
throughout her digestive
system, and there was no viable
treatment. I took her home and
made her comfortable.
Within a week it became
obvious that she was no longer
the happy, healthy dog I had
known and loved, and she was
clearly in pain.
I made the diffi cult decision to
have the vet come to my home,
and as I held her on my lap he
ended her life in the most gentle
and caring way.
38 | arta.net
In Canada, we have a similar
right, as human beings, to a
compassionate end of life...
sort of. After much debate in
both the Senate and the House
of Commons, Bill C-14 was
given royal assent in June 2016
to permit Medical Assistance
in Dying (MAID) in certain
cases. While some felt the
bill didn’t go far enough to
recognize individual liberties,
others argued against any
form of medically assisted
suicide whatsoever.
In March 2016, while
The goal is to recognize
the autonomy of a person
seeking medically assisted
death and yet provide
safeguards in order to
protect the vulnerable.
Parliament and the Senate were
debating amendments to Bill
C-14, Angus Reid polled 1,517
Canadians about their views
on MAID. In a case where a
patient was in extreme pain
but had no danger of imminent