Assistant professor of philosophy @UTSC. I write about ethics at https://xitter.cf/t.co/kufzDQYXQY and make videos at https://xitter.cf/t.co/O6J4bnMMRW
Toronto, Ontario
Joined August 2009
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A lot of people are saying.
Dignity for some is fundamentally inseparable from agency and autonomy. To me the failure of the anti AS proponents to recognise this is disappointing. At its core, opposition to AS is driven by particular value judgements, which those affected may not share. The argument for AS is fundamentally an argument for freedom and against paternalism.
It's truly wild to fill this article with stats but not mention that slightly more men get assisted dying, that Kim Leadbeater, a woman, tabled the bill, and that Liz Carr and Esther Rantzen are prominent voices in the debate. @hannahshewans
glamourmagazine.co.uk/articl…
Last year, I stopped reading the news. I think you should too. Welcome to No News November.
valuejudgments.substack.com/…
Since there were only 116 track-2 deaths, it's important to look at the raw numbers. 28.4% of people in the lowest material-resource quintile is an extra 9 people from an even distribution. The gender imbalance is due to 26 more women than men having T2 MAID.
In yesterday's @bmj_latest, several pieces on #AssistedDying . Here's my response, up on BMJ now, to the editorial:
bmj.com/content/387/bmj.q238…
@AlexanderRaikin @yuanyi_z @uoftmedicine @APApsychiatric @OntariosDoctors @OntPsychAssoc @TrudoLemmens
I evaluate the gender claim here: valuejudgments.substack.com/…
I evaluate the marginalization claim here:
valuejudgments.substack.com/…
Here's an important article by palliative medicine physicians who support assisted dying but are being silenced. bmj.com/content/387/bmj.q235…
An excellent editorial by @jamesdownar, @ElianaClose, @JessYoungTweets, and @BenPWhite: bmj.com/content/387/bmj.q238…
The recent Ontario data shows that women make up 60% of track 2 MAID cases. This has caused some, including @Psych_MD and @igrantubc, to argue that this is evidence of a problem. In my latest post, I look at the data.
valuejudgments.substack.com/…
First, the differences are simply too small to draw conclusions. In Ontario, it amounts to 26 more women than men having track 2 MAID. Second, there are sex-based differences in medical conditions, including that women are 4x likely to get MS.
Amanda is once again mischaracterizing the proposal. Allowing advance directives for MAID would mean anyone could add "I want MAID in situation x" to their advance directive at any point. The actual proposal is an agreement with a provider upon diagnosis of a medical condition.
In 2020, @viraniarif said: "It is an absolute red herring... We are not proposing advance directives; we are proposing advance consent."
Today it was announced: "The Government of Canada will launch a national conversation in November 2024 on the topic of advance requests."
The newest Ontario MAID data show that MAID continues to be used more frequently by non-marginalized people. Claims to the contrary misunderstand the report. Here's my latest:
valuejudgments.substack.com/…
This is true even of track two MAID. For instance, the distribution of people with neurodegenerative diseases, which makes up a lot of T2 cases, shows that MAID recipients are on average *less marginalized than the general population*.
Unfortunately, @Psych_MD left this out of his analysis when he argued that Canada is committing 'social murder', choosing instead to use the data the report says aren't meaningful.
The problem here is clearly the lack of support this man is receiving, not whether he can access assisted dying. There's an easy test: If AD continues to be banned, is that going to do anything to help him? No? Then put your effort into improving disability supports.
