MAID: Mental Illness Exclusion

AI summary

Petitioners support MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill C-218 to amend the Criminal Code so that mental illness alone would not be considered a grievous and irremediable condition for medical assistance in dying (MAID), and they call on the House of Commons to pass the bill. The petition states that the government intends to expand MAID to people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness, that mental illness can be treatable and its irremediability hard to predict, and that expanding MAID could lead vulnerable people to seek MAID because of lack of timely mental-health care. No government response is included in the petition submission.

AI summaries describe petitioners’ requests and claims. Consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the House of Commons In support of M.P. Tamara Jansen's Private Members Bill C-218, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying). Whereas: The Government of Canada intends to expand medical assistance in dying (MAID) to individuals whose only medical condition is a mental illness; Mental illness is treatable, recovery is possible, and experts agree it is currently impossible to predict when a mental illness is truly irremediable; Expanding MAID in this way risks suggesting that some lives are beyond saving, while many Canadians still struggle to access timely and effective mental health care; Public concern is high, with many Canadians believing that treatment options should come before MAID and fearing that vulnerable individuals may seek MAID due to lack of care; Families and communities are concerned that people who could recover through treatment and support may instead lose their lives; Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, would amend the Criminal Code to ensure that mental illness alone is not considered a grievous and irremediable condition for the purposes of MAID. Therefore, we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Pass Bill C-218 to stop the expansion of MAID to those whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness.

Government response

No government response is available yet.