Mental illness is not included in the plan to expand MAID
Lawmakers in Quebec have proposed a bill that, if passed, will expand medical aid in dying (MAID) and let people ask for it before an incurable disease makes them unable to care for themselves.
The bill, which was introduced on Thursday by Sonia Bélanger, the minister in charge of seniors, lets people ask for MAID ahead of time in case they get sick and can’t take care of themselves.
If it passes, people with diseases that cause their bodies to break down, like Alzheimer’s, will be able to apply for MAID and give their consent ahead of time.
In the spring of 2022, lawmakers proposed making changes to Quebec’s MAID framework to allow for advanced consent. However, they decided to put off making changes to the law at the time, saying that more discussion was needed.
The bill that was put forward on Thursday says that a mental disorder is not an illness. Before the bill can be passed, there will be a consultation process.
In June 2016, the federal government made MAID legal, but at first, it was only for people whose deaths were “reasonably foreseeable.” This meant that MAID was mostly for people with terminal illnesses who were close to dying.
In October 2020, the government changed the law and got rid of the part that said the death had to be expected. People with “serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability” (but not mental illness for now) could now get MAID because of the change.
Patients must also be in an “advanced state of irreversible decline in capability” and be in unbearable pain that “cannot be relieved under conditions the person considers acceptable.”
Within the framework set up by the federal government, provinces and territories have their own rules and policies for how to implement MAID.
At the moment, Quebec law says that a person must be able to give informed consent in order to get MAID. This means that people with degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease cannot get MAID.
In December 2021, a nonpartisan committee said that adults in Quebec with incurable diseases that make them unable to care for themselves should be able to ask for MAID before their illness makes them unable to do so.
In March 2024, people in Canada who only have a mental illness like depression or a personality disorder will be able to get MAID. Such requests were supposed to be legalized this year, but Justice Minister David Lametti said a delay was needed so that doctors could get ready for how complicated these cases can be.