Canada will not allow assisted suicide for those with only mental illness
MONTREAL — Canada will not allow medically assisted suicide for people whose only condition is mental illness, the justice minister said Wednesday, seeking to close debate on one of the country's most controversial healthcare issues. Canada legalized assisted dying for those at the end of life in 2016. The right was extended to those suffering from serious and incurable illnesses in 2021, even if…
Montreal — Canada has decided not to permit medically assisted suicide for individuals whose sole medical condition is mental illness, stated Justice Minister Sean Fraser on Wednesday. This decision aims to resolve a highly contentious healthcare matter in the country. In 2016, Canada legalized assisted dying for those nearing the end of their lives.
The eligibility was expanded in 2021 to include those with serious and incurable illnesses, even if death was not reasonably foreseeable. Initially, Canada intended to allow assisted death regardless of condition by 2024, but the date was delayed by three years. The government cited the need to ensure the already strained mental health system was prepared.
Without government intervention, people solely experiencing mental illness would have been eligible for assisted suicide as early as March, when the exclusion was set to lapse. Fraser assured reporters that Canada's Liberal government intends to pass legislation prohibiting assisted suicide for individuals whose primary medical condition is mental illness.
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