Two women who have suffered from mental illness recently joined a physician at the parliamentary press gallery in Ottawa to explain why medically assisted death should not be made available to the mentally ill.
The media event was held Oct. 3 in support of Bill C-314, two days before the legislation underwent second reading in the House of Commons. The private member’s bill crafted by Conservative MP Ed Fast would remove mental illness as an eligible criteria for medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
The speakers were introduced by Euthanasia Prevention Coalition president Gordon Friesen. He said making MAiD accessible to the mentally ill constituted a “discriminatory danger.”
Anike Morrison said she lost her brother in 2014 and had “several traumas and stressors” thereafter. This led to five hospitalizations in 2018 and a five-week stay on an acute psychiatric unit.
“When I was discharged, my father had to keep my medication in his room to keep me safe. And at one point, I was so depressed, I didn’t leave the bed or the couch for weeks on end, leading to my sister becoming so concerned that she called the ambulance,” Ms. Morrison said.
If MAiD had been presented to her as a solution to the emotional pain and distress she was experiencing during that time, she said, she might have opted for it. But thanks to the medical help she received, she recovered.
“I’ve completed my undergraduate degree, I’ve travelled, I’ve gone on a mission trip. And most importantly, I love my life, I enjoy my life, and I feel as though I’m on the other side of that dark period.”
Ms. Morrison said that “psychiatrists, psychologists, pharmacists, [and] social workers” helped her “move through” that difficult period, and that should be the focus of health professionals, not helping those who are suicidal to die.
“As Canadians we can’t do both. We can’t put our emphasis on preventing suicide while also presenting MAiD as an option for people with mental illness ... [or] who are experiencing poverty or homelessness or PTSD or who have a disability,” she said.
Garifalia Milousis, a lawyer, said she had suffered from depression since the age 15, and survived anorexia, bulimia, self-harm, and seven suicide attempts.
