A Calgary judge has rejected a motion to stop a 27-year-old autistic woman from undergoing medical assistance in dying (MAID), despite reports that she suffers from no physical illness and there is no documentation as to how she was approved for the procedure.
Justice Colin Feasby of Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench ruled that the woman, who is unnamed due to a publication ban, will be able to undergo MAID, rejecting an intervention by her father, who argued that the 27-year-old was not competent to make the choice to end her own life.
In his ruling, Justice Feasby stated that the “dignity and right to self-determination” of the woman was more important than the issues raised by her father, which included describing the harm he would suffer from losing his daughter.
In Alberta, the MAID process involves a panel of two doctors, but in the case of the 27-year-old woman, the initial doctors disagreed with each other—one approving and the other denying her access to assisted suicide. A third doctor who was brought in supported the woman’s request.
Justice Feasby, however, denied the father a judicial review, saying, “The court cannot review a MAID applicant’s decision-making or the clinical judgment of the doctors and nurse practitioners involved in assessing an applicant’s suitability for MAID.”
He added that the court’s inability to review the clinical judgment of the medical professionals made it impossible to know whether the woman had any other conditions besides disability and mental illness.
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland introduced legislation to delay the expansion, while Justice Minister Arif Virani explained that the delay was being done to ensure “readiness” in the health care system.
