Plagued to Death by Ableism: What the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Expansion of Eligibility for MAID Reveal About the Lethal Dangers of Medical and Systemic Ableism in Canada

Heidi Janz

doi:10.7202/1108012ar

Plagued to Death by Ableism: What the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Expansion of Eligibility for MAID Reveal About the Lethal Dangers of Medical and Systemic Ableism in Canada

Heidi Janz John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7527-8432

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7202/1108012ar

Keywords: ableism, systemic discrimination, COVID-19, Medical Assistance in Dying, MAID

Abstract

In this paper, I draw on my research and experience as a disability ethics educator and advocate in order to demonstrate that both Canada’s COVID-19 response and its expansion of eligibility for MAID are symptoms of the medical and systemic ableism that afflicts Canadian society. I conclude with a consideration of the enduring danger that eugenic ableism disguised as autonomy poses for people with disabilities in a Canada where COVID-19 may be waning, but where the contagion of ableism turned lethal through MAID continues to spread.

Published

2023-12-04

How to Cite

[1]

Janz H. Plagued to Death by Ableism: What the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Expansion of Eligibility for MAID Reveal About the Lethal Dangers of Medical and Systemic Ableism in Canada. Can. J. Bioeth. 2023;6:137-41. https://doi.org/10.7202/1108012ar.

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Issue

Vol. 6 No. 3-4 (2023): Open Issue & MAID

Section

Perspectives

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