Advocates of expanded assisted death regimes have been very successful in campaigning for the “right to die.” So much so that I’m told that most people on the political left assume that any opposition to it is informed by a conservative, pro-life position.
I recently had the opportunity to publish a version of a text that wrote (fuelled, to be honest, by rage and despair) while Bill C-7 became enshrined in Canadian law. This legislation radically expanded Medical Assistance in Dying in so-called Canada, creating a special track to early death for any adult with a disability.
Disabled people and people with disabilities overwhelmingly oppose this change to the law. While it’s heartening to see this beginning to be covered with more accuracy in the media, lives have already been lost as a result of this discriminatory legislation–lives of disabled people who would have preferred to live but lacked the supports to do so.
I’m honoured to publish this piece alongside poetry by Jane Shi. Many thanks to Anna Bowen for her careful editing of this text, and for the opportunity to add my voice to the chorus of opposition to this law.