Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD)

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).

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).

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).

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).

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).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References