Canada is pausing in expanding its law “Medical euthanasia”. 1um In February, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government announced it would delay the provision allowing people with mental illness to seek euthanasia until 2027. This extension of the law was originally planned for March 2024, but “The country is not ready”, argued Health Minister Mark Holland to justify the postponement until after the federal elections planned for 2025.
The Canadian provinces and territories interviewed, as well as parliamentarians, particularly Conservative elected officials assembled on a committee responsible for making recommendations, had all expressed opposition to this expansion. Psychiatrists had argued that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for doctors tasked with assessing such requests to decide that a mental illness such as schizophrenia is present. “could not be treated” to grant the patient’s wish or to judge that this was the case “rational”. All stressed the need to ensure better access to health care for people with mental disorders throughout the territory before considering granting them this new right.
Canada’s euthanasia law is already one of the most liberal in the world. It was passed in June 2016 following joint pressure from Quebec, which had passed legislation on the issue a year earlier, and the Supreme Court of Canada, which ordered the government to comply with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and recognize that every individual has the right has freedom to control your own body. Initially reserved for people with “serious and incurable illness that causes unbearable physical or mental suffering” and which one “Natural death is somewhat predictable”The legislation was further developed in 2021 by relaxing the eligibility criteria. A short-term impairment of the applicant’s vital prognosis, for example in the case of disabling chronic illnesses, is no longer necessary for the application to be considered admissible after a systematic review by two doctors.
The reluctance of religious authorities
The Canadian Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program allows two types of assistance: the patient can be given a lethal product by a doctor or nurse, or they can take it themselves in the presence of a loved one or a member of the medical staff. THE “Euthanasia”However, as practiced particularly in the neighboring American state of Oregon, it is still extremely rare. The latest AMM annual report data shows that only seven people across the country used it in 2022. Finally, you must be of legal age to submit an application and a Canadian resident – the insurance system – disease of any The province will cover the financial costs of this medical procedure.
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