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Canada Suspends Mental Illness Assisted Dying Plans
Confirmed
In Short: Canada will indefinitely suspend plans to allow medically assisted dying for those with mental illness as their sole condition.
Minister of Justice Sean Fraser announced Wednesday that Canada will indefinitely suspend plans to expand its medically assisted dying law to include people whose sole condition is mental illness.
The decision comes after a lack of consensus on who would be eligible for the program.
Under current Canadian law, medically assisted dying became legal in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, accounting for the vast majority of cases.
Supporters argue that excluding those with mental illness violates their constitutional rights and access to medical care.
Claire Brosseau, a woman with treatment-resistant bipolar 1 disorder, told the BBC earlier this year that assisted dying would offer her 'a safe death'.
In a statement, advocacy group Dying with Dignity called the government's decision 'profoundly disappointing'.
Helen Long, CEO of Dying with Dignity, said, 'We anticipate that a very small number of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness would be eligible for Maid under this criterion, but their suffering is no less real than those who live with physical illnesses.'
Fraser said the government will introduce new legislation in the coming weeks to suspend the expansion indefinitely.
The legislation will also allow patients with progressing incurable illnesses to consent to assisted dying before their health deteriorates.
Fraser noted, 'While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach.'
The parliamentary committee earlier this year recommended that Canada 'indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness' from assisted dying.
The government's decision comes after a Quebec judge in 2019 ruled that restricting access to those with a 'reasonably foreseeable death' was unconstitutional, forcing federal lawmakers to amend and expand existing laws.
What this adds
The decision to suspend the expansion indefinitely comes after a federal case challenging the government’s earlier decision to delay access to medically assisted dying for people with mental illness remains before the courts.
Background
Dame Esther Rantzen, the renowned broadcaster and charity founder, died on September 30 at the age of 86. She was best known for her work on the BBC TV programme 'That's Life!' and for founding Childline, a national telephone helpline for children.
What's confirmed
- Minister of Justice Sean Fraser also announced plans to allow for advanced consent to the programme 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.
- 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.
- Medically assisted dying became legal in Canada in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, who still account for the vast majority of cases.
- Supporters of extending the programme to those with mental illness alone argue that not doing so violates their constitutional rights and access to medical care.
- 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.
- 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”.
What's still developing
- "People will continue to suffer intolerably while the case goes through the courts," he said.
- Watch: One mentally ill man's fight for assisted dying in Canada If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.