Canadian doctors push for babies to be euthanized under MAID program

Canada’s medical assistance in dying program, already among the most expansive in the world, is facing scrutiny after physicians in Quebec suggested it could be extended to newborns.

The Quebec College of Physicians said, “Medical assistance in dying may be an appropriate treatment for babies suffering from extreme pain” and that “parents should have the opportunity to obtain this care for their infant,” according to reporting by Anna Farrow in the Western Standard. The comments have revived a debate many believed had ended years ago.

Canada legalized euthanasia in 2016. Since then, the range of the law has widened steadily, first covering terminal illness, then expanding to include non-terminal conditions. Federal data shows the pace has accelerated. In 2024, there were 16,499 reported MAID deaths, bringing the total since legalization to 76,475 by the end of that year.

By early 2026, at least 94,000 deaths had occurred under the program, according to Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Discussion of extending MAID to infants is not new. In 2022, Louis Roy of the Quebec College of Physicians appeared before Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying. During that testimony, Roy suggested the program could apply to “babies from birth to one year of age” who are born with severe deformities or disabilities, Farrow reported.

Reaction at the time was immediate. Speaking on CBC Radio, then-Liberal Disabilities Minister Carla Qualtrough rejected the idea outright, saying, “There is no world where I would accept that.” Following the backlash, many observers believed the proposal had been dropped.

That assumption was challenged last fall after international media attention brought the issue back into view. A The Atlantic feature titled “Canada is Killing Itself” compared the proposal to historical policies in Nazi Germany, triggering backlash from euthanasia advocates and renewed debate across the country.