Government to indefinitely pause euthanasia for mental illness alone

The Government of Canada is heeding the unanimous recommendation of a joint parliamentary committee to indefinitely pause access to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) from broadening to individuals solely living with a mental illness.

Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser informed media Wednesday that “while there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time.” He shared that the government would introduce legalization this fall that will have to advance through both chambers of Parliament before March 17, 2027, to stop the scheduled expansion. He promised that the legislation will be tabled this fall. There are seven weeks before the Christmas recess.

In a post to his X account, Fraser stated that one of the reasons motivating this decision is “when it comes to mental illness, serious concerns remain about whether MAID requests can be assessed safely and consistently. For that reason, Canada does not intend to move ahead with the scheduled expansion of MAID for mental illness.”

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This revelation from Fraser evaporated the intrigue over the fate of Bill C-218 hours before its second reading vote. Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s Right to Recover Act was essentially rendered moot and defeated 187-141. One Liberal MP, Kent MacDonald broke with his party to vote ‘yay.’

In reaction to the forthcoming Liberal-backed alternative to her bill, Jansen is calling for more details.

“We have no idea what his bill is going to say. He’s telling us all sorts of things. He hasn’t even seen the bill himself,” she told reporters.

One provision that Fraser said will be included in the bill is a plan to allow adults with an early-stage diagnosis of an incurable illness make an advanced request for euthanasia. This touting of advanced directives is being criticized by the Canadian pro-life community while the indefinite pause of MAiD being offered to individuals solely experiencing a mental illness is a welcome development.

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Scott Hayward, co-founder of the political organization RightNow, which works to elect pro-life parliamentarians, said the forthcoming legislation must be examined closely.

 “Stopping MAiD for mental illness would be an enormous victory, but Canadians also need to know what the government intends to do on advance requests and other potential expansions of assisted suicide,” said Hayward.  “We will judge this legislation by a simple standard: does it protect more vulnerable Canadians from euthanasia, or put more of them at risk?

“We potentially may request that the federal government split the proposed legislation so that issues such as advance directives are studied, reviewed, and voted on separately from not expanding criteria for MAiD for those whose sole underlying condition is mental health,” he added.

The Cardus partisan think tank, which has published many research reports documenting how Canada’s MAiD regime morphed “into one of the world’s most permissive,” stated that it is “is encouraged to see that the federal government will indefinitely delay the expansion of MAiD for mental illness as the sole underlying medical condition.” However, the organization expressed concern about the move to expand MAiD through advanced requests.

“It is unclear if this change will be limited to neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s or dementia, or if it will apply to all serious illnesses and disabilities,” stated Cardus. “This change would heighten the risks of MAiD provision for patients and providers. Further, it would compromise, rather than protect, informed consent, which is a core safeguard in the current MAiD regime by undermining the present agency of a patient in favour of their past decision.”

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Campaign Life Coalition, the political arm of the Canadian pro-life movement, also spoke against the approach being taken by the federal government.

“The Liberal government is playing with lives,” said Jeff Gunnarson, the national president of Campaign Life Coalition. “It voted down a bill that would protect the mentally ill while claiming it will introduce its own protections. And on the same day, it says that it plans to make euthanasia more available for those suffering with dementia. The Liberal government is still bent on expanding death—it just changed its target.”

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)