Canadian report says euthanasia for mental illness is ‘reckless, dangerous’

Following a review by experts of the impending expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada, Health Minister Mark Holland said last week that Canada is “not yet ready” to allow assisted suicide or euthanasia for individuals with only a mental illness, but hinted that it might be willing to at some point in the future.

A report of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying found that it would be “reckless and dangerous” to expand MAiD to include individuals whose only illness is mental illness. Despite this, Holland seems to be keeping the expansion on the table, stating that Canada is “not yet ready to take such a significant step.” (emphasis added)

The report found that it would be “reckless and dangerous for the liberal government to proceed with [MAID] for at least two reasons.” According to the several experts, MAiD would cause the “premature deaths of persons with mental disorders,” with no way of knowing if a mental illness is “irremediable.” In order to qualify for physician-assisted death by the Canadian state, an underlying illness must be “irremediable” or unable to be cured. Removing this from the law could lead to further expansion of MAiD.

This delay in approving the MAiD euthanasia for mental illness expansion now sets the government up for legal challenges from Dying with Dignity Canada, a pro-assisted suicide advocacy group in Canada.

READ: Get the Facts: Did recent pro-life laws cause mental health problems among women?

Implementation of the 2021 law permitting assisted suicide and euthanasia for people with mental illness has already been delayed multiple times in Canada. The original expansion bill, passed in response to a court decision, delayed implementation by 18 months.  That deadline was then extended another six months, and then on March 15, 2023, implementation of the law was delayed to automatically begin a year later on March 17, 2024. Then, late last year, there appeared to be momentum to delay implementation even longer. 

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a glimmer of hope come from the Liberal government that they’re prepared to reconsider their decision to move ahead,” said Conservative MP Ed Fast.

The nation’s Catholic bishops are still concerned, however, calling the decision to postpone the implementation of assisted death for mental illness “not good news.”

“The federal government’s decision to simply postpone legislation that would broaden the eligibility for ‘Medical Assistance in Dying,’ which is assisted suicide or euthanasia, to persons suffering solely from mental illness, is not good news,” Bishop William McGrattan, the president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, told Crux in a statement.

“Despite the opposition that has been voiced by mental health practitioners, disability groups, faith communities, and even several provincial Ministers of Health, the federal government remains fully committed to implementing this legislation, which received Royal Assent on March 9, 2023,” added McGrattan.

As the March 2024 deadline approached, Canadian officials announced they will try to postpone implementation, possibly indefinitely. Legislative action will be needed before the scheduled implementation date of March 17 in order to again delay the expansion.

Each delay can lead to legal and legislative challenges demanding expansion with prohibitions against discrimination regularly used as a reason for such an expansion. 

“We can’t discriminate against some people being allowed to make an end-of-life choice,” said Nova Scotia Senator Stanley Kutcher.

Helen Long, chief executive officer of advocacy group Dying with Dignity Canada, in a March 15, 2023 article, claimed that without previous expansions to those with mental illness , “…it is likely a legal challenge would have been launched arguing that the regime discriminated against people whose only condition is a mental disorder.” She further indicated that a “legal challenge is a sure thing if the government doesn’t go forward with the expansion [in 2024].”

Editor’s Note 2/20/2024: This article was updated to include a statement from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

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