Canada Considers Assisted Suicide for Kids Without Parental Consent

 

Canada considers assisted suicide for kids without parental consent Curated for you byCP Editors Good afternoon! It's Thursday, February 23, and today's headlines include a parliamentary committee in Canada pushing for the country's assisted suicide program to include minors, former President Donald Trump visiting East Palestine, Ohio, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and research exploring how Protestant pastors and congregants categorize what it means to be a regular churchgoer. A parliamentary committee in Canada has called for the country to expand its assisted suicide program so that "mature minors" whose deaths are "reasonably foreseeable" can hasten their deaths without parental consent. The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance In Dying presented a report last week for discussion in the House of Commons. Minors "deemed to have the requisite decision-making capacity upon assessment" should be eligible for the country's Medical Assistance in Dying Program (MAID), the report states in a list of 23 recommendations. The committee urged the Canadian government to "undertake consultations with minors on the topic of MAID, including minors with terminal illnesses, minors with disabilities, minors in the child welfare system and Indigenous minors, within five years of the tabling of this report." The report further recommended that parental consent is not always necessary in certain cases if a minor is eligible for assisted suicide, and it did not propose an age limit for assisted suicide, adding that eligibility for the program "should not be denied on the basis of age alone." Conservative members of Parliament objected to the proposal to expand MAID eligibility to minors, highlighting how decision-making capacities, even for mature young people, remain questionable. Citing Dr. Maria Alisha Montes, a clinical associate professor of pediatrics, the report states: "I would argue that MAID for mature minors carries the highest amount of risk, as the consequence is death. It's irreversible. We need to ask ourselves if we should be legalizing this for mature minors when biology shows us that the ability to balance risks and rewards is one of the last areas of the brain to mature." Continue reading. P.S. From daily news to weekend headlines, we've got you covered. Whether you're interested in religious liberty or inspiring faith stories, there is something for everyone. Check out CP's full newsletter lineup to subscribe to our latest free offerings. See more.

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