Canada's federal government confirmed it will advance legislation to prevent individuals whose sole health condition is mental illness from accessing euthanasia services. Sean Fraser stated that his government intends to indefinitely bar people whose only condition is mental illness from accessing the program.
A government committee concluded that the government should expand access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) while simultaneously excluding persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness from eligibility. The vast majority of MAiD deaths, specifically 95.6%, involved people whose natural death was deemed 'reasonably foreseeable'.
Conversely, only 4.4% of these cases involved deaths not considered reasonably foreseeable. Furthermore, the Liberal party's proposed legislation aims to counter a private member's bill that seeks to amend the criminal code section covering MAiD by changing the definition of a 'grievous and irremediable medical condition' to exclude mental disorders.
Fraser also announced that lawmakers will work toward decriminalising what are known as advanced requests. Currently, Quebec remains the sole jurisdiction permitting the use of these advanced requests.
