Challenging Extensions to MAiD Legislation

The Parliamentary Committee reviewing the provisions of the revised law on euthanasia is accepting comments from groups and individuals until May 9, on this website:

Submit a Brief (parl.gc.ca)

The provisions include:

“Other outstanding important questions related to MAID—such as eligibility of mature minors, advance requests, mental illness, palliative care and the protection of Canadians living with disabilities—will be considered during a Parliamentary review of the MAID legislation that would commence within the next 30 days. The committee responsible for the parliamentary review process will be required to submit its report to Parliament no later than one year after the start of the review.” (justice.gc.ca)

(CCBI: With the exception of mental illness which has already been reviewed, these are the issues open to comment on a brief, or could be sent to your MP, the Attorney General, etc. )

It is important that the Committee hears from as many people as possible stating their opposition to the proposed changes (listed last, below). This may not be enough to change procedures already legalized, but it is always worthwhile to register views that promote life from conception until natural death.

Please take a few minutes to state your belief in life until natural death, assisted by good palliative care and concern for human dignity! Recommend that the committee’s proposed changes should not be accepted.

See immediately below for an infographic of what government has already added since euthanasia and physician-assisted death were first legalized in Canada in 2016. We should be familiar with the current state of the law to protect vulnerable people and to be sure that individuals, parishes, hospices, etc., are informed of current possibilities.

CCBI and others warned before the legalization of MAiD in 2016 that safeguards were negligible and that extensions would follow, and you can view these extensions on the infographic from Justice Canada’s own website:

Infographic: Canada’s new medical assistance in dying (MAID) law (justice.gc.ca)

Here are some of the points we should know, taken from Justice Canada’s website:

• The law no longer requires a person’s natural death to be reasonably foreseeable as an eligibility criterion for MAID.
• As of March 17, 2021, persons who wish to receive MAID must satisfy the following eligibility criteria:
  • be 18 years of age or older and have decision-making capacity
  • be eligible for publicly funded health care services
  • make a voluntary request that is not the result of external pressure
  • give informed consent to receive MAID, meaning that the person has consented to receiving MAID after they have received all information needed to make this decision
  • have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability (excluding a mental illness until March 17, 2023)
  • be in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability
  • have enduring and intolerable physical or psychological suffering that cannot be alleviated under conditions the person considers acceptable

Eligibility for persons suffering from mental illness

Canadians whose only medical condition is a mental illness, and who otherwise meet all eligibility criteria, will not be eligible for MAID until March 17, 2023. This includes conditions that are primarily within the domain of psychiatry, such as depression and personality disorders. It does not include neurocognitive and neurodevelopmental disorders, or other conditions that may affect cognitive abilities.

This temporary exclusion will provide the Government of Canada with more time to study how MAID on the basis of a mental illness can safely be provided and to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect those persons. To support this work, the law requires the Ministers of Justice and Health to initiate an expert review, which will be tasked with considering protocols, guidance and safeguards for MAID for persons suffering from mental illness, and to make recommendations within the next year (by March 17, 2022).

(CCBI: This has been submitted and will be reviewed, but the March 17, 2023 date has already been accepted for allowing euthanasia in some cases of mental illness. It is highly unlikely that this will be changed. The delay in implementation was to ensure safeguards would be adequate, i.e., as far as Government is concerned. Apart from anything else, questions of consent are considered almost sacrosanct in Canada, therefore the possibility of proper consent in situations of mental illness surely presents legal and ethical challenges to any notion of ‘safeguards.’)

Moira McQueen, LLB, MDiv, PhD, DSL (Hon.)
Executive Director
Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute