Canada may widen its assisted death law
Statute would add mentally ill
TORONTO — Canada already has one of the most liberal assisted death laws in the world, offering the practice to terminally and chronically ill Canadians.
But under a law due to take effect in March, assisted dying would also become accessible to people whose only medical condition is mental illness, making Canada one of about a half-dozen countries to permit the procedure for that category of people.
That move has divided Canadians, some of whom view it as a sign that the country’s public health care system is not offering adequate psychiatric care, which is notoriously underfunded and in high demand.
The government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which has been criticized for its rollout of the policy, has defended its actions by pointing to a 2019 court decision in Quebec that officials say mandates the expansion.
Members of the Conservative Party have accused the government of promoting a “culture of death.” There has also been opposition from politicians on the left who want the government to focus its health policy on expanding mental health care.
Jason French is among those building a case for why a doctor should help him die.
With copies of a document describing his troubled mental health history tucked in his backpack, he attended an event in Toronto to lobby for making assisted dying available to people like him. He has severe depression and has tried twice to end his own life, he said.
But Dr. John Maher, a psychiatrist in Barrie, Ontario, who specializes in treating complex cases that often take years to improve, said he was concerned that hopeless patients will opt for assisted death instead.
“I’m trying to keep my patients alive,” he said. “What does it mean for the role of the physician, as healer, as bringer of hope, to be offering death? And what does it mean in practice?”
Canada’s existing assisted death law applies only to people who are terminally ill or living with physical disabilities or chronic, incurable conditions. Its Supreme Court decriminalized assisted death in 2015 and ruled that forcing Canadians to cope with intolerable suffering infringes on fundamental rights to liberty and security.
About 13,200 Canadians had an assisted death last year, a 31 percent increase over 2021, according to a report by the federal health ministry. Of those, 463 people were not terminally ill but had other medical conditions. Patients who are approved have the option to end their lives using lethal drugs administered by a physician or nurse or by taking drugs prescribed to them.
There is still uncertainty and debate over whether assisted death will become available to the mentally ill early next year as scheduled. Amid concerns over how to implement it, Parliament has delayed putting it into place for the past three years and could delay it again.