The Canadian government has indicated that it may pause plans to allow euthanasia for mental illness once again.
The country was poised to expand its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) by March of 2024 to include those whose only underlying condition is a mental disorder. This is one year later than originally planned, as government officials also imposed a temporary delay in December 2022.
“We’re weighing our options,” Justice Minister Arif Virani said, according to CTV News. Virani said a committee will be hearing from medical experts and others as they weigh in on whether or not to expand MAiD. “We’ll evaluate all of that comprehensively to make a decision whether we move ahead on March 17, or whether we pause,” he said.
Conservative MP Ed Fast was optimistic upon hearing Virani’s comments. “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,” he said.
Since MAiD’s legalization in 2016, deaths in Canada from euthanasia and assisted suicide have skyrocketed, making the nation a worldwide leader in assisted deaths. Recent data shows that more than 4% of all deaths in 2022 were via MAiD, with the majority of these deaths being acts of euthanasia rather than assisted suicide.
READ: ‘Rooted in eugenics’: Canada plans assisted suicide expansion for drug-addicted persons
Prior to the announcement that officials may be reconsidering, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops warned against the expected further expansion of MAiD. “With the threat of [assisted suicide] becoming available to Canadians whose sole medical condition is mental illness, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is for public healthcare to invest more in mental health resources,” the bishops said on November 30.
“This investment is urgently needed, not only because of the present mental health crisis in which needs far exceed resources, but because discouragement and despair can also result from this very scarcity of reachable, reliable, and robust support,” they added.
“Euthanasia and assisted suicide (MAiD) have always been, and will always be, morally unacceptable because they are affronts to human dignity and violations of natural and divine law,” the bishops said. “Catholic healthcare affirms that every person, made in the image of God, has intrinsic value, regardless of ability or health.”
