Euthanasia for depressed Canadians put on indefinite pause

Canada has indefinitely paused its plans to expand euthanasia to physically healthy people with mental health problems.

Due to have come into force next March, this is the third time that the controversial proposals have been pushed back following widespread criticism.

Since legalising so-called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for certain circumstances in 2016, Canada has already abolished the requirement for a person to be terminally ill. Those who are deemed to have an ‘incurable’ condition, even if they also suffer from mental illness, can be killed.

‘Real concern’

Announcing legislation to put the suspension into law, Canada’s Justice Minister Sean Fraser said: “When I hear that there is a lack of consensus in the medical community about the irremediable nature of certain mental illnesses, that gives me real cause for concern”.

However, the legislation will overturn the federal ban on advance requests, allowing a person with dementia who is unable to provide consent to be killed on the basis of a prior decision.

Amanda Achtman, Ethics Director at Canadian Physicians for Life, criticised the Government for intending to “expand death for dementia nationwide” on the same day MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill to ban euthanasia for mental illness was voted down.

But Professor Kevin Yuill, Chief Executive of Humanists Against Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, highlighted that the suspension is “another loss for the pro-#euthanasia/#assistedsuicide movement.

“People have started to realise that giving people lethal injections as ‘medical treatment’ for whatever ails you might not be a great idea.”

Suicide prevention

Earlier this year, Canada’s Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying concluded that euthanasia should not be allowed for those solely with mental illness.

During its investigation, the Committee reported that it heard from some psychiatrists that it is inherently incoherent for the medical discipline to claim it can “both prevent suicide in one patient and help finalize suicide in another with the same suffering”.

The report noted that a “recurring theme across the testimony was the pressing need for increased and more equitable access to adequate mental health services”.

Given “the significant complexities and risks, grave concerns and deep divisions that continue to accompany this issue”, the Committee urged the Government to protect “persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness” from being exposed to MAID.