Peace River-Westlock MP, Arnold Viersen is concerned with a change the federal government is proposing to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) legislation.
Among the big concerns Viersen has is what he sees as widening the scope of who would qualify for MAID.
The Tory MP says that repealing the part of the law that says a person’s death has to be “reasonably foreseeable” in order for someone to qualify.
“Now we basically have two classes of citizens when it comes to requesting assisted suicide,” explains Viersen.
“We have those able-bodied – and otherwise healthy – Canadians who are suffering from mental illness being able to request suicide and they will be given suicide prevention measures. However, if you are in a wheelchair or have a permanent disability and request assisted suicide, then it will be provided.”
Viersen also tells the Trending 55 Newsroom is that Canadians who are physically disabled deserve the same options as someone with a mental health illness.
“The concern is that those who live among us with disabilities will not be valued to the same extent,” he says.
“They will not get suicide prevention in the same manner that able-bodied Canadians would.”
When Viersen made his statement in Parliament, Liberal MP, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said in response, “There are individuals who are suffering intolerably, people who are of sound capacity and mind to make decisions about their own lives. They are suffering from an effectively incurable illness and some members want to take those rights away.
– Kenny Trenton, Trending 55 Newsroom
