Canada seeks to delay euthanasia for mentally ill
- Justice Minister David Lametti has asked for a 1-year pause to study the risks of providing medical assistance in dying to mentally ill individuals
- The move comes amid concerns that people are asking for assisted suicide not because of poor health, but due to poverty, lack of housing or extreme loneliness
Canada on Thursday moved to delay a change to its euthanasia laws that would make mentally ill patients eligible, saying more time was needed to set up safeguards.
Canada approved doctor-assisted suicide for the terminally ill in 2016 in response to the top court striking down a ban, ruling that it deprived Canadians of their dignity and autonomy.
It was expanded in 2021 to include adults with serious and chronic physical conditions that were not life-threatening, while the government vowed to also permit mentally ill patients to request euthanasia.
But on Thursday Justice Minister David Lametti introduced a bill in parliament seeking a one-year extension, to March 17, 2024, for such an inclusion. He expressed confidence it would get broad support.
“We need to be prudent,” he told a news conference. “We need to move step by step making sure that people within the profession [and] Canadian society at large has internalised this step.”
