In a rare move, Canadian parliamentary committee recommends a restriction on euthanasia

Since legalizing euthanasia in 2016, Canada has expanded its eligibility parameters for the program, called Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), even allowing for people with non-terminal illnesses to “qualify.” This summer, however, a special parliamentary committee recommended that people whose only illness is a mental one should be “indefinitely” excluded from MAiD eligibility — a rare advisory to restrict MAiD access, rather than expand it. 

The committee issued a final report June 17 recommending that the Criminal Code have this “indefinite exclusion,” according to Global News. Earlier this year, the committee, composed of Members of Parliament and senators, listened to dozens of witnesses, which included some psychiatrists, weigh in on the issue. 

Trudo Lemmens, a University of Toronto law professor and MAiD critic, told the Washington Post that the recommendation marked “a significant moment.”

“It’s literally the first time we’ve seen in the last 10 years that the government expresses any reservations about further expansion,” Lemmens told the outlet. 

Amanda Achtman, a Catholic, anti-MAiD activist and the ethics director at Canadian Physicians for Life, told Zeale News in a July 12 statement that it “remains to be seen” whether the Canadian Parliament will actually heed the committee’s recommendation — and that of a number of organizations and psychiatrists — and stop the expansion from taking effect. 

She explained that the Canadian Parliament expanded euthanasia eligibility to people with disabilities and mental illness in 2021, allowing those with chronic illnesses, disabilities, and neurological conditions to start meeting the MAiD criteria. However, the legislation did have a temporary exclusion for those whose only underlying condition was mental illness.

“Each time that exclusion has been set to expire, the Government has delayed its implementation,” she said, “questioning the country's ‘readiness’ for psychiatric euthanasia.” 

Achtman added, “Now, thank goodness, psychiatric euthanasia has become so unpopular in public discourse” that the committee has issued the June 17 recommendation. She noted that a group of more than 90 disability and mental health organizations have urged Parliament to permanently stop the planned expansion of MAiD. 

Additionally, Achtman said, “The heads of psychiatry across Canadian medical schools made known their opposition to psychiatric euthanasia because there is no way to predict irremediability with mental illness and because it would undermine suicide prevention efforts.”

Global News reported similarly, stating that the majority of those who testified to the committee urged for MAiD’s restriction from this population and with some witnesses arguing that such an expansion could contradict suicide prevention. 

Achtman is also founder of the initiative Dying to Meet You, which seeks cultural renewal regarding conversations on death, suffering, and hope. She emphasized that many still do not receive the suicide prevention they need.  

“Even without the expansion, it is crucial to note that Canada already has one of the most permissive euthanasia regimes on earth,” Achtman told Zeale News. 

Euthanasia is the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, she said, and more than 100,000 Canadians have been killed via MAiD since its legalization. 

“While I am pleased to see the successful mounting of pressure to oppose euthanasia for mental illness, those with disabilities and those who are elderly deserve the same vociferous public support in favour of their lives, too,” she said. 

She added that Canadians who have mental illness as a comorbidity are already being killed by euthanasia if they have a separate condition, such as a disability or cancer, that makes them “qualify.” 

“In this way, we have become a two-tier society where some get suicide assistance and others get suicide prevention,” Achtman said. “I am grateful for the conclusion of the committee and for all of the advocacy and testimony that has led to it, and I sincerely hope it will be heeded in a meaningful and life-saving way.”

In June, the Canadian Catholic bishops marked the sobering one-decade anniversary of the legalization of MAiD by calling on Catholics and all people of goodwill to continue voicing concerns about the euthanasia program. They also said they are praying for those who have lost their lives to MAiD and for their loved ones. The bishops also called for people to pray that hearts and minds be converted away from the practice of euthanasia. The bishops also encouraged people to accompany the sick and vulnerable. 

“On this occasion, we reject complacency with the status quo on euthanasia in Canada,” the bishops said. “Formed by the Gospel, we are called to draw near to those who suffer: not to ignore, trivialize, or abandon them in their pain or despair, but to accompany them with compassion, practical care, and hope.”