What People Who Choose Assisted Death Actually Say
5/26/20261 hr 2 min
In 2016, Canada legalized assisted dying for the terminally ill. Since then, the law—medical assistance in dying, or MAID—has expanded dramatically—to people with chronic but non-terminal conditions, with disabilities, and potentially those with mental illness as the sole underlying condition. Rupa Subramanya, The Free Press’s Canada correspondent, has spent years reporting on this slippery slope, interviewing patients, doctors, and families along the way. She discusses with Coleman where the line should be, what some of the strangest assisted dying cases reveal about the system, and what Canada’s experience should tell the rest of the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsColeman Hughes· Host0:00
Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman. My guest today is Roopa Subramanya. Roopa is a writer for the Free Press who focuses on Canada. She has a weekly column aptly titled This Week in Canada. In this episode, we talk about Canada's assisted dying law, known as MAID, which stands for Medical Assistance in Dying. We talk about how a law originally intended for people with terminal illness has expanded to include lots of people with serious but not terminal ailments. We also talk about the ethics and trade-offs involved in assisted dying laws in general. So without further ado, Roopa Subramanya. [upbeat music] If you're like me, you've probably seen a recent headline and wondered, "Can the president really do that?" That's why I recommend checking out the chart-topping podcast You Might Be Right, hosted by former Tennessee governors from the left and right, Phil Bredesen and Bill Haslam. It's produced by the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee. And fun fact, the show's named after Howard Baker's principle, "Always remember the other fellow might be right." Now, that's a quote that Conversations with Coleman can get behind. On You Might Be Right, the governors tackle timely policy conversations with political luminaries like Al Gore and Judy Woodruff. If you need a place to start, check out their