Canada suspends plans to expand assisted dying to people with mental illness
Quick Look
- Canada's government announced it will indefinitely suspend plans to expand medically assisted dying to individuals whose sole condition is mental illness, citing lack of consensus on eligibility.
- Justice Minister Sean Fraser stated the decision is correct despite imperfect agreement, and said a new law will be introduced to suspend the expansion while allowing advance consent for those with progressing incurable illnesses.
- The move reverses a prior plan to allow access by March 2027.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Medically assisted dying (Maid) has been legal in Canada since 2016 for terminal illnesses. It was expanded in 2021 via a Quebec court case to include people with incurable conditions where death is not imminent, known as 'track two' Maid. Plans to further expand eligibility to those with mental illness as a sole condition were delayed twice starting in 2023 to allow for study.
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".
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.
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.
Fraser said the government will instead introduce a new law in the coming weeks that suspends that expansion indefinitely.
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.
Following a court case in Quebec, it was expanded in 2021 to people with incurable conditions but whose death was not imminent. In Canada, that mechanism is known as "track two" Maid.
The expansion has been the subject of controversy, with disability advocacy groups reporting cases where assisted dying was offered to people with disabilities without a patient requesting it themselves.
Canada was first set to expand its assisted dying laws to people whose sole condition is mental illness in 2023, but it delayed doing so twice to allow for time to study its potential delivery.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The government will introduce legislation to suspend the Maid expansion for mental illness cases in the coming weeks
Very likely · Within weeks
A federal court case challenging the delay in Maid access for mental illness will continue
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific criteria will define eligibility under the proposed new law for advance consent?
- How will the government address concerns from disability advocacy groups about coercion?
- What is the timeline for introducing and passing the new legislation to suspend the expansion?
