Alberta curbs national euthanasia expansion

Alberta has shored up protections for the vulnerable as Canada’s euthanasia scheme looks at further expansions.

Earlier this month, the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act (Bill 18) was passed by the province’s legislative assembly and is expected to receive Royal Assent in due course. The new law will prevent minors and those with only mental illness from being euthanised, strengthen conscience protections, and ban doctors from referring people for euthanasia outside Alberta.

Introduced in 2016, Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) regime was expanded in 2021 to include people with serious or incurable conditions who do not have a terminal diagnosis. MAID now accounts for five per cent of all deaths in Canada. Legislation to extend it to those solely with mental health conditions has been passed but not yet implemented.

Strengthens safeguards

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated that Bill 18 was introduced to stop vulnerable people being “counseled to end their life prematurely”.

She added: “When we read stories about a young man repeatedly refused MAID for his mental health condition in Ontario, able to fly across the country to BC [British Columbia] and find an amenable doctor for it, we’re concerned about that”.

The Campaign Life Coalition, a pro-life movement in Canada, welcomed the safeguards, saying: “While it does not end euthanasia, supporters say it strengthens protections for vulnerable people and reinforces the role of palliative care.”

Concerns raised

Last month, Canadian psychiatrist Dr John Maher told the Special Joint Committee on MAID that social contagion for suicide is a “well-established phenomenon”, and raised concerns that if MAID is expanded for mental health conditions it will legitimise suicide as an option.

Maher, who is also the editor of the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, said that very morning he had seen a patient with schizophrenia “very, very cavalierly saying, if he didn’t get a job and a girlfriend, he’s going to request MAID”.

He warned that MAID has already had a profound impact on the mental health sector, despite it still being restricted to those with physical ailments, and that, if made available, patients whose conditions are treatable “will doctor-shop until dead”.

The doctor accused MAID providers of being “happy to assist with suicides while people are on wait lists for effective treatment,” and said that MAID was “undermining our efforts to maintain hope and to provide treatment for recovery. It gives people the message we’ve given up.”