First, I'd say it's not discriminatory to exclude certain groups from MAID. We limit certain medical procedures to different age groups based on the risks. For this group, a lack of understanding of their fulsome future horizons, which is tied to the fact that their brains are still maturing, tells us that the risks are real and, given the finality of death, that the risks are acute.
I would also say that the group we're talking about that I'm most concerned about is young people with disabilities. We know that children with disabilities are more affected by suicidal ideation. Young people with disabilities absorb the social message that their lives are not worth living and feel anxiety about the burdens they place on their families. It's not really until they mature that they can see that this is actually a social issue. It's social discrimination against people with disabilities.
I think it's extremely dangerous to suggest that a young person, no matter how mature, can understand or predict their ability to accommodate life with disability and to find happiness in the future. I think it's actually deeply worrisome to suggest that we will accept a person's hopelessness, give up on them and allow them to access state resources to end their lives at that point.