{
  "id": 12717869,
  "title": "Canada to indefinitely bar mental illness as sole reason for access to euthanasia",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/canada-to-indefinitely-bar-mental-illness-as-sole-reason-for-access",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-07T19:00:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Health",
    "slug": "guardian-health",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/07/canada-assisted-dying-mental-illness"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Canada's federal government announced on Wednesday that it will introduce legislation to prevent individuals with mental illness as their sole health condition from accessing euthanasia, known as medical assistance in dying (MAID). This move comes as the ruling Liberal party seeks to address a contentious issue in the country regarding who is eligible to receive doctor-assisted death. Currently, individuals whose primary medical condition is a mental illness are barred from accessing MAID, a ban that is set to expire in March. However, this decision has sparked debate among lawmakers over whether to expand the MAID program to include those with mental illness. For those in need of crisis support, various helplines are available across countries, including Crisis Services Canada, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, Samaritans in the UK and Ireland, Lifeline in Australia, and more.",
  "summary": "Legislation is an effort by ruling Liberals to address growing clash over who has access to doctor-assisted death Canada ’s federal government said on Wednesday it would advance legislation to prevent people whose sole health condition is mental illness from accessing euthanasia, an effort by the ruling Liberal party to address a clash in the country over who has access to physician-assisted…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}