The topic of euthanasia is a delicate one; some view it as an abomination while others see it as death with dignity. Of those two spectrums, I lean toward the latter end: When a person is in agony, suffering from an incurable, fated-to-get-worse affliction, choosing to die in a peaceful way makes perfect sense to me. Personally, I know a few scenarios exist where I would like the option to choose if I am ever so unfortunate that I am in that position. But euthanasia gets murky when it deviates from strict, established lines around the practice.
Grieving Canadian parents are now seeking change after their son, Kiano Vafaeian, died with the help of the Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, program. Kiano lived with Type 1 diabetes, partial blindness, and long-term mental health struggles following a serious car accident as a teenager, and he became obsessed with the idea of MAID, according to The New York Post.
Canada’s MAID framework allows people with “grievous and irremediable” medical conditions to seek euthanasia, the newspaper reported. In 2021, the law was changed to add what’s known as Track 2, a provision for patients whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable but who experience intolerable suffering. Under that expanded criteria, doctors can approve euthanasia even if the person isn’t near the end of life.
Vafaeian first sought euthanasia at age 23. His mother, Margaret Marsilla, said a doctor initially approved his request but later withdrew it after she and his stepfather, Joseph Caprara, intervened, per the Post. The young man was originally furious with his family, but for a time his mental health seemed to improve, and he returned to live with his family.
“He tried his best when he was in one of those good highs of life,” Marsilla told the outlet. “Then winter, fall started coming around, he started changing and then everything that we had worked for from spring and summertime just disappeared… he would start talking about MAID again.”
In late 2025, Vafaeian again pursued MAID and found Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a prominent MAID provider in British Columbia, who approved Vafaeian’s imminent death under the Track 2 provisions.
“We believe that she was coaching him… on how to deteriorate his body and what she can possibly approve him for and what she can get away with approving him for,” Marsilla claimed, per the Post. “Because if he had spoken back in 2024, and he was a good candidate for approving MAID, she would have done it right away, but she didn’t.”
He was euthanized on December 30, 2025, and the family wasn’t informed of his plan and didn’t learn about his death until days later. Now, the family is fighting for changes to be made that revoke the Track 2 provision, which also allows doctors to approve and euthanize patients within 90 days.
“Realistically, safeguards for patients would be reaching out to their family members, giving them a whole bunch of different treatment options,” Marsilla shared.
Wiebe defended herself to Fox News Digital, saying, “Like my colleagues, every patient I approve for Track 2 has unbearable suffering from a grievous and irremediable medical condition (not psychiatric) with an advanced state of decline in capability and consents to MAID fully informed about treatments to reduce the suffering.”
In the US, the Death With Dignity organization has pushed for policy change to allow terminally ill patients (usually with six months or less to live) a safe way to end their lives. It is not technically euthanasia but medical aid in dying, in which the patient must ingest the life-ending medicine themselves. There are 15 US states where this is considered legal, and 13 more are considering it for their state in 2026.
