According to Health Canada, their assisted suicide laws, or medical assistance in dying (MAID), needs to meet certain requirements for eligibility, one of which is having a “grievous and irremediable medical condition.” However, the condition does not have to be terminal or fatal, and in March 2027, a person can be eligible for MAID if their only condition is a mental illness.
Amanda Achtman is the creator of Dying to Meet You, a project of cultural renewal to humanize our conversations on suffering, death, meaning, and hope. She petitions that the modern world has shifted to “death without culture” instead of a “culture of death” as some would put forth.
She believes that this can be fixed by opening the door for better cultural conversation surrounding death. She wrote, “I am convinced that artistic beauty, humanizing storytelling, and edifying examples are critical to restoring our cultural health when it comes to our experiences of death and dying.”
Achtman recently talked about Dying to Meet You on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly. The news site posted on X that the project ‘’seeks to reshape the conversation around death and people’s inherent worth.”
She reveals that she got the idea while working in the office of a member of parliament and trying to prevent the legislative expansion of euthanasia on the basis of disability and mental illness.
"It was very challenging to be a Christian pro-life and political staffer, knowing that this law expanding euthanasia was a forgone conclusion and going to pass anyway," says Achtman. "That inspired me to think what can I do personally to contribute toward a culture of life in Canada."
What began with blogs and casual conversations with fellow Canadians about these topics led to Achtman writing, speaking, and producing short films.
"There's such a need and a hunger to engage these topics because really not a day goes by that I do not hear about how euthanasia is affecting people personally," says Achtman.
