Canada suspends plans to expand assisted dying to people with mental illness

OTTAWA, Canada, Oct 7 — 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.

• 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.
• In Canada, support can be found at the Suicide Crisis Helpline by dialling 988

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