The Canadian Experience with Medical Assistance in Dying: Medical, Legal, Ethical, and Social Implications for Germany

In 2015, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that the criminal prohibition of assisted dying violated the constitutional rights to life, liberty, and security of the person, using reasoning similar to that of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court five years later. This landmark decision led to the legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), initially limited to terminally ill patients but later expanded to include all individuals with grievous and irremediable medical conditions. 

Within a decade, Canada transitioned from complete prohibition to having one of the world’s highest rates of physician-assisted death. While MAiD has become a normalized end-of-life option, concerns are growing that its accessibility, combined with insufficient safeguards, may undermine suicide prevention efforts and put vulnerable populations at risk. Controversial cases suggest that requests for MAiD are not solely driven by medical conditions but also by social suffering and inadequate access to social support and medical and palliative care.

This online symposium aims to analyze the factors and institutional arrangements that have contributed to the normalization of MAiD in Canada. The discussion will explore the medical, ethical, legal, and social implications of liberalizing assisted dying practices with regard to the current debate on regulating assisted suicide in Germany.

Hosted by the Center for Medical Law and the Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine 

The symposium will be held in a hybrid format, both online and at the Department of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, seminar room, Humboldtallee 36, 37073 Göttingen

Registration for online participation: niklas.petersen(at)med.uni-goettingen.de

Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry, McGill University
• Prof. Dr. Trudo Lemmens,, University of Toronto
• PD Dr. Stefanie Graefe, University of Jena
• Prof. Dr. Volker Lipp, University of Göttingen
• Prof. Dr. Barbara Schneider, LVR-Clinic Cologne
• Prof. Dr. Jan Schildmann, University Medicine Halle

Zur Veranstaltung (LINK)