Canada suspends plans to expand assisted dying to people with mental illness
People with mental illness alone were to be eligible for assisted dying in Canada in March 2027, but that has now been paused indefinitely.
Canada puts plans to broaden assisted dying to people with mental illness on hold
Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the pause was a hard decision
Canada says it will suspend indefinitely its plans to extend its medically assisted dying law to people whose only condition is mental illness, saying there is no agreement on who should qualify.
The move follows an earlier recommendation this year from a parliamentary panel that medically assisted dying — known in Canada as Maid — should not be expanded.
On Wednesday, justice minister Sean Fraser said that "while there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach".
Those who support extending the program to people whose only condition is mental illness say failing to do so breaches their constitutional rights and access to healthcare.
A federal court case is still ongoing, challenging the government's earlier decision to delay access to Maid for people with mental illness.
Wednesday's announcement means Canadians whose sole condition is mental illness will not be able to access assisted dying by March 2027, as had previously been planned.
Medically assisted dying was legalized in Canada in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses, who still make up the overwhelming majority of cases.
After a court case in Quebec, it was expanded in 2021 to include people with incurable conditions whose death was not imminent. In Canada, that option is called "track two" Maid.
The expansion has been controversial, with disability advocacy groups saying there have been cases in which assisted dying was offered to people with disabilities even when the patient had not requested it themselves.
Canada had originally been due to expand its assisted dying laws to people whose sole condition is mental illness in 2023, but it postponed the change twice to allow more time to study how it might be delivered.
Canada should 'indefinitely exclude' people with mental illness from assisted dying, report says