Canada Halts Medically Assisted Dying Expansion for Mentally Ill

Canada has indefinitely suspended its plan to expand its medically assisted dying (MAiD) program to include individuals whose sole condition is mental illness. The announcement came Wednesday from Justice Minister Sean Fraser.

The legislation, originally enacted in 2016 for terminally ill individuals, was broadened in 2021 to encompass those with incurable diseases who are not necessarily near death. Canada had been preparing for a further expansion by March 2027 to cover those with mental illness as their sole qualifying condition.

"While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach," Fraser stated.

Supporters of MAiD access for individuals with mental illness argue that denying it infringes upon constitutional rights and access to healthcare. However, critics contend that the understanding of mental illness is not sufficiently advanced to allow medical professionals to accurately determine eligibility for assisted death.

The suspension follows a recent report from an Ontario family who stated that their 83-year-old grandmother, Brigitte Stegemann, was euthanized despite not being mentally sound enough to provide consent. According to her granddaughter, also named Brigitte, Stegemann performed poorly on a cognitive test designed to assess MAiD consent, believing her two living siblings were deceased.

The granddaughter recounted that two days prior to the procedure, Stegemann expressed distress, crying for 45 minutes and stating, "I've made a mistake" upon being informed of the impending date of her death. The family also reported that the initial attempt to administer the IV for the procedure was botched, resulting in blood, and that the nurse allegedly was not wearing gloves.

While practitioners and the care home involved maintain Stegemann had legally consented, her granddaughter suspects ideological motivations and believes the circumstances should be investigated.

Fraser also expressed concern regarding "a lack of consensus in the medical community about the irremediable nature of certain mental illnesses."

Although Stegemann had been diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer, which would have qualified her under the existing terminal illness criteria, critics of the expansion believe the suspension may prevent individuals who could benefit from improved housing and healthcare from seeking MAiD as a means to alleviate suffering.

Canadian legislators are reportedly planning to introduce new legislation that would codify the indefinite suspension of MAiD's expansion to include individuals with mental illness as their sole condition. The proposed law would also reportedly allow patients with progressive, incurable diseases to provide advanced consent to assisted death before their health deteriorates to the point where they can no longer consent, a practice currently not permitted.