Thank you, Madam Chair.
The upshot of this kind of an amendment would conflate the concepts of an assessment period and a reflection period.
An assessment period is a minimum safeguard that is meant to ensure there is enough time devoted to MAID assessments of persons whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, whereby the eligibility determination can be made only after the assessment is completed. We're trying to give enough time to make that assessment.
A reflection period is in contrast to that. What reflection does is it allows for a minimum period of time that would have to elapse after a person is found to be eligible. Its purpose is to give the person, who knows that they can obtain MAID to relieve their suffering, a brief pause to reconsider their wishes before deciding whether or not to proceed.
If we proceed with this type of an amendment, it would cause two problems. First, it would fail to set the minimum standard with respect to the time needed to assess such requests, and second, it would unduly prolong the suffering of persons who are found to be eligible.
On that basis, I would be opposing this amendment.
Thank you.