Canadian campaign hopes to remove mental illness as criteria for 'assisted dying'

The Archdiocese of Toronto has launched a new initiative, “Help Not Harm,” as a renewed and urgent call to defend life amid rising worries over Canada’s broadening Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) regime.

Key Takeaways:

• The "Help Not Harm" campaign is hoping to raise awareness about the implications of assisted suicide and euthanasia and offer support for Bill C-218, especially as the current allowances are set to be expanded to include mental illness.

• Bill C-218 would ban MAiD if the only qualifying condition is mental illness.

The Backstory:

Since the legalization of MAiD in Canada in 2016, eligibility criteria for applicants to assisted dying have gradually increased.

What was portrayed by Canadian lawmakers at first as a narrowly defined option for those facing impending death has widened to include individuals with chronic illnesses and disabilities.

Further debates among politicians are underway, regarding permitting mental illness to be a sole qualifying condition for MAiD. 

The Details:

Introduced in March, the “Help Not Harm” campaign aims to raise awareness about the ethical, medical, and social implications of MAID, particularly opposing the scheduled widening of MAiD to include mental illness. The campaign urges for the authorization of Bill C-218, also known as the “Right to Recover Act,” which attempts to ban MAiD when a person’s only 'qualifying condition' is a mental illness.

Bill C-218 would criminalize providing MAiD to such individuals. It would also exclude mental disorders on their own from being categorized as a “grievous and irremediable medical condition."

Additionally, the campaign hopes to offer life-affirming alternatives to MAiD, including palliative care, mental health support, and community-based aid for vulnerable individuals. 

The website of the “Help Not Harm” campaign provided reasons for backing Bill C-218. One reason indicated is that “allowing MAiD for mental illness sends a conflicting message at a time when Canada is investing in suicide prevention and crisis support,” while another contended that “there is no medical consensus on when a mental health condition is truly untreatable, making accurate and ethical assessments extremely difficult.”

Writing to the faithful endorsing the Help Not Harm campaign, Cardinal Frank Leo proclaimed that the Catholic response to the mental health crisis “must be love, solidarity, and a steadfast commitment to care. We are called to offer help, not harm; hope, not despair; protection, not abandonment.”

“Advocating for laws that protect and promote life is a meaningful expression of our Catholic faith in action — most especially during this Lenten journey, a time of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Let us pray for our elected officials, that they may be guided by wisdom and courage,” Cardinal Leo continued.

In remarks cited by Catholic Saskatoon News, Neil MacCarthy, the Archdiocese of Toronto’s director of public relations and communications, said:

We welcome the visible solidarity shown by dioceses across Canada in support of the Help Not Harm campaign. This shared witness reflects a common concern for the dignity of every person, especially those who are most vulnerable. We pray that this moment encourages careful reflection by Members of Parliament from all parties and that leaders will permit a free vote on this critical issue. We continue to ask Catholics across the country to visit HelpNotHarmCanada.ca to send a message to their local Member of Parliament in the days ahead.

Why It Matters:

Highlighting the urgency of public opposition to Canada’s broadening MAiD laws as the scheduled March 17, 2027 date for MAiD laws to come into effect approaches, Nicole Scheidl, the executive director of Canadian Physicians for Life (CPL), said:

Most psychiatrists across the country are very much against this because someone who has a mental illness and has suicidality in their mental illness, how do you tease apart what’s part of the illness and what is a rational decision? It’s impossible. Whether it’s through the private members’ bill or the government takes it on, I think it’s very important that that expansion be stopped.

Expressing his support for the “Help Not Harm” campaign, Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), praised the attempt. "C-218 will be coming to a vote fairly soon," he said. "There are many members of the government in the Toronto region. It is essential that they are doing this.” 

The Bottom Line:

Canadian politicians have created a system that risks coercing vulnerable people into choosing death due to failing health systems or inadequate support.

In and of itself, Canada’s MAiD regime undermines trust in the country’s health care, and disproportionately affects marginalized groups, including the elderly, disabled, and economically disadvantaged.

The emergence of organized campaigns like “Help Not Harm” is a welcome step in the right direction, reflecting a rising momentum movement among pro-life Canadians to not just oppose MAiD, but to present a holistic, life-affirming vision based on compassion and care.