Canada Postpones Plan to Allow Euthanasia for Mentally Ill

FILE — Lee Carter, whose mother traveled to Switzerland to end her life in 2010, speaks to journalists at the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, Feb. 6, 2015. Doctor-assisted suicide has been available in Canada since 2016 for individuals whose death is "reasonably foreseeable." Chris Considine, a lawyer based in Victoria, British Columbia. Senator Pamela Wallin. (Senate of Canada) Sally Thorne, professor emeritus, the University of British Columbia. (UBC Nursing School) Arthur Schafer, director, the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, the University of Manitoba. (Arthur Schafer/University of Manitoba) Nicole Scheidl, executive director, Canadian Physicians for Life.

The Canadian government is delaying access to medically assisted death for people with mental illness. Those suffering from mental illness were supposed to be able to access Medical Assistance in Dying — also known as MAID — starting March 17. The recent announcement by the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the second delay after original legislation authorizing the practice passed in 2021.