Physicians Differ on the MAID Decision

If nothing is done, Maid will be permitted as of March.

Physicians in Newfoundland and Labrador have different perspectives on the federal government's decision to not allow a mental illness to become the sole basis for receipt for medical assistance in dying (MAID).

However, earlier this week, Canada's Justice Minister Sean Fraser revealed the government will be introducing legislation to continue to rule it out under the Criminal Code indefinitely.

A professor of bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine and Memorial University of Newfoundland, Daryl Pullman, said he thinks it was a good decision.

"After all, we're talking about ending another human being's life, and I think we should have the strictest sort of oversight and criteria around that," he said, adding the declaration by the government in Ottawa "seems to say well, let's slow down here at least in this space and take a look at it."