A desperate mother is doing all she can to save her son from undergoing Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) — first in Canada and now in Switzerland.
Last year, Margaret Marsilla worked with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition after finding out her 23-year-old son had been approved for MAiD, with his only diagnosis being Type 1 Diabetes. Between diabetes and losing his eyesight, her son felt like his life was no longer worth living.
In a petition, Marsilla explained that doctors approved his application and had set a date for her son to die, even though his condition was able to be managed through treatment. “There are plenty of treatments out there for all of this but my son is giving up on life not because of pain and suffering but because it affected him mentally and emotionally,” she wrote. “Giving up is in the now, but killing yourself is for eternal, and not a good reason for MAiD.”
Furthermore, she said there had been no efforts to improve her son’s treatment, contact family members, or get him help for suicidal ideation.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has since published an update; his euthanasia was originally scheduled for September 22, but Marsilla’s campaign to stop it was successful. MAID House, the organization where her son was going to be killed, ultimately backed out, and the doctor who approved his application backed out as well.
Yet the battle still isn’t over. Marsilla’s son, Kiano Vafaien, appeared on the Rupa Subramanya Show on March 17th, where he insisted he was still planning to die.
While Canada seeks to expand assisted dying to the mentally ill and even mature minors, Rupa’s discussion with Kiano Vafaien sheds light and provides additional context on the controversial practice.
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In the interview, Vafaien said he thought his family’s actions were abusive, and that the center’s decision to cancel his euthanasia was unconstitutional. He also insinuated that both his family and the Canadian healthcare system have abandoned him, even as he tried to get treatment.
“No one was there to answer my calls for help,” he said. “I requested for caregiving support. I requested for medicinal support, because my medicines are not all free… um, specifically my insulin needles are not free. Medicinal cannabis is not free. Transportation to my appointments is not free. And the government support I’m receiving is not sufficient.”
He added that he believes it’s not in anyone else’s hands but his own to decide when his life should end and that he still plans to undergo assisted suicide or euthanasia — only this time, in Switzerland, where there are very few safeguards in place.
Diabetes, though treatable, is an example of a so-called “terminal illness,” that, like in Vafaien’s case, can be considered sufficient enough to allow someone to undergo assisted suicide. Even though Vafaien is not dying, the MAiD program in Canada would allow him to be killed because he is disabled and experiencing suicidal ideation. What Vafaien needs are better health care and more support — not death. But, as revealed in 2020, assisted suicide has represented “a net reduction in cost of $86.9 million” for the government. It’s cheaper to kill than to heal.
