Canada says it will indefinitely suspend plans to expand its medically assisted dying law to people whose sole condition is mental illness, citing a lack of consensus on who would be eligible
It comes after a parliamentary panel earlier this year recommended that medically assisted dying – known as Maid in Canada – should not be expanded.
On Wednesday, Canada’s justice minister, Sean Fraser, said that “while there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time”.
Supporters of extending the programme to those with mental illness alone argue that not doing so violates their constitutional rights and access to healthcare.
A federal case remains before the courts challenging the government’s earlier decision to delay access to Maid for people with mental illness.
Fraser acknowledged this is an issue that the Supreme Court could weigh on in the future.
Wednesday’s announcement means that Canadians with mental illness as their sole condition will not be able to access assisted dying by March 2027 as previously planned.
The government will instead introduce a new law in the coming weeks that suspends that expansion indefinitely, Fraser said.
That proposed legislation will also to allow patients who have a progressing incurable illness to consent to assisted dying before their health deteriorates to the point where they are unable to do so. Advanced requests are not currently legal.
“These are not easy decisions but we believe they will be the correct ones,” Fraser said.
Medically assisted dying became legal in Canada in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, who still account for the vast majority of cases.
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Way to go