Write an essay on End of Life Assistance
Write an essay on End of Life Assistance
The issue of medical assistance in dying (MAID, aka physician-assisted dying) has been in the news in Canada for decades, culminating in the passing into law of Bill C-14 in June 2016. death Assisted Dying. For this assignment you will read up on the issue and relevant parliamentary
decisions, and write a position paper explaining what MAID is and giving your own
opinion on where you stand on the assisted-end-of-life question.
Procedure: 1. Research: Educate yourself on the background and issues surrounding the
debate and the current legal status of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada and Nova
Scotia. A good place to start is Dalhousie’s Health Law Institute’s website for End-of-Life
Law & Policy in Canada: http://eol.law.dal.ca/?page_id=236 . You may also look up news
stories by professional journalists on quality Canadian news websites such as the Globe
and Mail, CBC News, Maclean’s, National Post, etc. Your sources don’t have to be
“academic” ones, but avoid popular news sites like MSN, CNN, Huffington Post, etc.
2. (Part 1) Write a short summary of what the legal situation is today in Canada
concerning end-of-life assistance, and the eligibility criteria for having a medically
assisted death.
3. (Part 2) Write an explanation of some of the positions/views both for and against
doctorassisted death. What are some of the ethical issues for society of this bill? Why did
the Government of Canada invite Canadians to participate in an online public survey on
MAID in January 2020?
4. (Part 3) Think through your own thoughts and opinions on where you stand on the
issue and why. Do you agree with it? Why or why not? Do you think the bill goes too far,
or not far enough? Why? Write this up.
5. Include a bibliography of sources used, and use in-text citations or footnotes
throughout. You may use either MLA or APA format.
Marks will be given based on evidence that you can clearly:
• Explain, in your own words, what the issue is, its background and current legal status in
Canada, based on your own research of quality sources (Part 1) 5 marks
• Explain both the ‘for’ and ‘against’ positions and the ethical and societal implications of
the issue (Part 2) 6 marks
• Articulate your own views on the topic, explaining the reasons for your opinions (Part 3)
6 marks
• Write a well-structured paper without spelling or grammatical errors, and with properly
formatted in-text citations or footnotes, plus bibliography 3 marks
Answer Preview………..
APA 910 words