Un articolo del Calgary Herald, intitolato “One third of Canadians fine with prescribing assisted suicide for homelessness”, riporta e commenta i risultati di un sondaggio circa le attitudini dei canadesi sul suicidio assistito (MAID).

Dal 2021 il Canada ha legalizzato il suicidio assistito anche nei casi in cui un paziente non ha una malattia terminale: condizioni mediche gravi e irrimediabili sono sufficienti per avere accesso al MAID. In questo sondaggio il 73 per cento degli intervistati ha dichiarato di essere favorevole al regime attuale e solo il 16 per cento lo rifiuta, mentre un terzo  si è dichiarato favorevole al MAID per i pazienti poveri e senzatetto.

One third of Canadians are apparently fine with prescribing assisting suicide for no other reason than the fact that the patient is poor or homeless.

Co. found that 73 per cent of poll respondents favoured the current regime, and only 16 per cent opposed it.

Alcuni dati del sondaggio riportati dal Calgary Herald:

Pollsters also found not-insignificant numbers of Canadians who favoured assisted suicide in cases where no medical condition of any kind was present. If a Canadian’s only affliction was “poverty,” 27 per cent said they would be fine with legalizing that person’s access to MAID. Another 28 per cent pegged “homelessness” as an appropriate bar to qualify for MAID. And 20 per cent of respondents were fine with MAID being handed out to anybody for any reason. In other words, one fifth of respondents agreed with the sentiment “medical assistance in dying should always be allowed, regardless of who requests it.”

One of the more controversial aspects of MAID has been a number of high-profile cases in which Canadians with serious illnesses opted for death only after years of failing to obtain proper medical care. The Research Co. poll found a slim majority of respondents who were fine with this, too; 51 per cent endorsed “inability to receive medical treatment” as sufficient reason for an assisted death.

L’articolo riferisce anche di un altro recente sondaggio sullo stesso tema:

It’s not the first time that a poll has found significant numbers of Canadians willing to expand MAID well beyond its original purpose as a form of euthanasia for the terminally ill. In February, an Angus Reid Institute poll similarly found 61 per cent of Canadians favouring the country’s current MAID regime.

Per chi fosse interessato alla attuale legge canadese, un articolo pubblicato su The Walrus presenta alcune critiche alla legge attuale e soprattutto alle modifiche che saranno introdotte nel 2024 (accesso a persone affette da malattie psichiatriche).