A woman suffering from severe anorexia may soon be allowed to die under Canadian law
- Lisa Pauli has suffered from a debilitating eating disorder for decades.
- Pauli, who is based in Canada, told Reuters that every day was "hell" and she was ready to die.
A Canadian woman who has suffered from a debilitating eating disorder for decades may soon be eligible for medically assisted death under Canadian law.
Lisa Pauli, who suffers from anorexia, told Reuters she went days without eating solid food, struggled to get out of bed, and was not strong enough to carry groceries home without stopping to rest.
Pauli has been hospitalized twice and tried a number of different treatments to fight her condition but nothing has worked, Reuters reported.
Although Pauli feels she is ready to die, she is not currently eligible to under Canadian law.
The country first legalized assisted death for those with terminal illnesses in 2016 and extended this to include people with incurable conditions in 2021. Both euthanasia and medically assisted suicide are legal in Canada.
An expansion of the law, which is due to come into effect in March 2024, will allow those whose underlying condition is mental illness to choose medically assisted death, per Reuters.
Pauli weighs 92 pounds and said she had struggled with her body since she was eight years old, according to Reuters.
According to the report, Pauli has been considering assisted death since April 2021 when she first raised the idea with psychiatrist Justine Dembo.
Dembo, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, told Reuters Pauli could be eligible for assisted death after Canada's law changes as she had "undergone very high-quality treatments and they just have not made an impact."
Assisted dying is legal in several other countries, including New Zealand, Switzerland, and Australia. In the US, physician-assisted suicide is legal in 10 states, including New Jersey, Vermont, New Mexico, and California, according to the end-of-life advocacy group Death with Dignity.