Canadian writer Robert Munsh approved to support

Famous children’s writer Robert Munsh has been approved for medical support for dying in Canada.

Munsch, whose 85 published books include Paper Bag Princess and Love You Forever, was diagnosed with dementia in 2021 and also has Parkinson’s disease.

The author told the New York Times that he did not solve a date for his death, but said he would go “when I started to have real problems with the conversation and to communicate. Then I will know.”

For the first time, Canada legalized euthanasia in 2016 for people with terminal diseases. In 2021, the law was amended to include those with serious and chronic physical conditions, even in life -threatening circumstances.

Munsch has sold more than 80 million copies of its books alone in North America alone and they have been translated into at least 20 languages ​​- including Arabic, Spanish and Anishinaabemow, the radical North American language.

In 1999, Munsh was made a member of the Order of Canada. A decade later, he received a star of glory of Canada in Toronto.

In an interview with the New York Times, Munsh said his decision was influenced by watching his brother to die of Lou Garyig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the most common form of motor neuron’s disease (MND).

Munsh said, “They kept him alive throughout these interventions. I thought, let him die.”

In Canada, people over 18 have to meet several requirements in order to meet the conditions to help dying.

These include “serious and incurable disease”, making a “voluntary request that is not the result of external pressure” and are in an “advanced state of irreversible decline in ability”.

Two independent doctors or nurses then have to judge the patient to confirm that all eligibility requirements are met.

Scholastic, the Munsch publisher, said in a statement on Instagram that his decision to speak publicly about medically supported dying “reminds again why Robert’s work continues to touch many generations.”

Munsh’s daughter, Julie, posted on Facebook that her father’s decision to pursue medically assisted dying was taken five years ago.

Julie called the interview with the New York Times magazine “Great”, but added that “it is not said that my father is not doing well or that he will die soon.”

According to Canadian law, the person must be able to actively agree on the day of his death.

“I have to choose the moment I can still ask for it,” he said in the interview.

Medically assisted dying represents 4.7% of deaths In Canada in 2023 – the most official government statistics.

About 96 percent of 15,300 people who were subjected to helping to die in 2023 had death, considered a “reasonable examination” due to severe medical conditions such as cancer.