With the passage of the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act in 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to establish a comprehensive legal framework allowing physicians to actively end a patient’s life. To date, at least 10 other countries followed Netherlands’ example.

What began as a procedure permitted in very limited circumstances soon expanded to permit killing on numerous grounds. In the case of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, the option of death is routinely offered as a solution for problems aside from terminal illness, including cases involving treatable illnesses, financial stress, depression, homelessness, and disabilities.