The Government of Canada is provided 18 months to extend access to medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people experiencing mental illnesses. Senators on Tuesday voted 57-21 to amend Bill C-7. The bill prohibits MAiD for individuals whose mere medical condition is a mental illness.
Assisted Dying in Canada
The bill provides the federal government one year and six months to extend access to medical aid in dying to such individuals.
Bill C-7 proposes an explicit, blanket ban on assisted dying in cases involving mere mental illness. However, it would also expand access to other intolerably suffering people who are far from their natural lives' end, reported Yahoo News.
The Canadian government has no control over less-partisan, independent-minded senators who appear strongly in favor of amending the legislation.
Senators provided conflicting views on the bill's constitutionality, if it should be amended and even whether there's any real urgency to deal with it this week, and whether it does enough to protect people with disabilities, reported CBC.
The amendment would enable people suffering from mental illness to access medical assistance to end their lives.
The amendment sets a "sunset" time limit, which will revoke the mental illness exclusion clause 18 months following receiving Royal Assent for Bill C-7, reported The Epoch Times.
It imposes an 18-month time limit on the mental illness exclusion, with the intent to provide the federal government, alongside territories, provinces, and medical associations, time to think of suitable safeguards and guidelines.
Until the exclusion is lifted, senators also agreed to another amendment to spell out that it will not apply to people experiencing neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
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In the House of Commons, the minority government faced postponement of tactics from a majority of Conservative MPs who ardently oppose expanding assisted dying to intolerably suffering people far from death.
However, with the Bloc Québécois and NDP supporting the bill, its eventual passage on Thursday was ensured. The government did not have to make any major amendments. It also faced no political pressure to do more to provide assistance to Canadians to access MAiD.
According to Sen. Denise Batters, who voted against the amendment, one of the basic criteria to access assisted suicide is that one's condition or illness must be incurable. With the introduction of a sunset clause, the mental illness exclusion would automatically be removed when a certain time period draws to an end.
Batters stated, "The term sunset clause is just a euphemism for the sunsetting of vulnerable people's lives. This will mean that after a short period of time... mental illness will be grounds for being put to death."
Justice Minister David Lametti remarked it was not the government's intent to exclude the said disorders. The amendment to certify that was approved by senators through voice voting.
Sen. Chantal Petitclerc, who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, implored her colleagues on Monday to take Canadians who are suffering intolerably into consideration as they wait for the bill to be passed.
