Write a Letter to the Editor in support of advance requests

We’ve outlined some points to consider below, but we left the form blank for you to write a thoughtful submission based on your personal perspective and experiences: 

• Many people across Canada aren’t eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAID) because they are in the early stages of a capacity-eroding condition — such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or Huntington’s diseases — and cannot put in place an advance request for MAID.
• An advance request would allow someone diagnosed with a grievous and irremediable condition, disease, or disorder, while they still have decision making capacity, to make a written request for an assisted death in the future. The request would include what the person considers intolerable suffering. Then if, at some point, this person loses the capacity to make medical decisions for themselves — and, importantly, reaches a point where their suffering becomes intolerable as described in their advance request — this formal request could be honoured.        
• An advance request could save a person from having to endure years — perhaps even decades — of unwanted suffering.      
• The lack of access to advance requests is a critical gap in our country’s assisted dying legislation — and must be corrected.