By Quinton Amundson, The Catholic Register
[Canadian Catholic News] – Canadian culture-of-life advocates are now awaiting a response from Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Prime Minister Mark Carney on a special joint parliamentary committee’s (AMAD) advice to permanently halt the expansion of euthanasia for persons suffering solely from mental illness.
A wholesale embrace of this recommendation would transform a promising development into a significant victory for pro-life Canadians who have spoken out against the country’s “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD) regime for a decade.
Canadian Physicians for Life Executive Director Nicole Scheidl spoke with the Catholic Register in the immediate aftermath of the AMAD committee tabling their 98-page report in the House of Commons on June 17. She offered praise for how this body as a whole conducted their work.
“It is a very good day,” said Scheidl with a joyful chuckle. “I do think that Parliament took this seriously. They really tried to hear from people. There are some parliamentarians and senators who do not want any restrictions on euthanasia in Canada, and that is a big problem and a mistake to think like that. But aside from them, the committee did a really good job.”
Physicians, psychiatrists, professors, policy analysts, disability advocates, Indigenous advocates, family advocates and international experts were among the myriad of voices who offered expertise or personal accounts to the committee.
According to the report, before these sessions “the committee heard claims that practice standards, guidance documents and assessor training demonstrate readiness” for expansion on March 17, 2027, but ultimately “the strongest evidence pointed the other way.”
Dissenting opinions were offered by Senators Rosemary Moodie, Pamela Wallin and Kristopher Wells and by the Bloc Québécois.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, had a sense that perspectives on potentially expanding MAiD were shifting when he testified before the AMAD committee on May 5. He outlined two main reasons why the committee is calling for indefinite shelving.
“This has come about not only because euthanasia for mental illness alone is different in nature from euthanasia for physical illness, but on top of that with so many stories in Canada of really questionable euthanasia deaths that have been building up that led to this happening,” said Schadenberg. “The government said ‘no, I don’t think we can handle more of these.’”
Alissa Golob, co-founder of RightNow, a non-profit organization that advocates for election of pro-life MPs, praised the committee’s recommendation.
“Pro-life organizations, members of parliament, senators, staffers, and regular Canadians have worked hard to stop the expansion of assisted suicide for many years in this country, and today’s joint committee recommendation is our first victory in that effort,” said Golob.
Krista Carr, the CEO of Inclusion Canada, an organization that mobilized 90 disability and mental health bodies to sign a letter opposing euthanasia expansion, complimented the committee for realizing that a further broadening of access is untenable.
“For years, Canadians have been told that more time, more study, and more safeguards would make MAiD for mental illness workable,” said Carr. “Today’s recommendation recognizes what many have argued from the beginning: the challenges associated with MAiD for mental illness are not temporary implementation issues. They raise fundamental questions about equality and how we respond to suffering.”
A statement on page 38 of the report endorses the conviction of Inclusion Canada, and many other organizations, that “psychiatric euthanasia disproportionately affects vulnerable demographics.”
Other significant conclusions presented in the report include:
- There is no “right to MAiD” in Canada: it is simply decriminalized if rules are followed.
- Medically-provided death threatens the integrity of the doctor-patient relationship.
- It is not possible to determine “irremediability” with mental illness.
- Euthanasia requests cannot be clearly differentiated from suicidality.
- The distinction between physical and mental illness is not clear cut.
- Long hospital wait times and inequitable access to alternative treatment must be addressed.
Conservative MP Tamara Jansen said the committee’s top recommendation could be acted upon by Parliament, supporting her existing bill C-218, with its central provision to permanently shelve MAiD for mental illness. Potentially, the Liberal Party may choose to sponsor their own bill instead.
Energized by this seemingly major breakthrough, advocates and organizations could continue to advocate for additional reforms of the Canadian medically-provided death system.
A formalized and comprehensive review of Canada’s existing euthanasia laws, pushing other provinces to follow in the footsteps of Alberta’s Bill 18 to restrict medically-provided death and protect conscience rights, and the overturning of Track 2 MAiD (removing the foreseeable natural death guardrail) are a few of the causes the pro-life community continues to pursue.
Related:A decade of medically-provided death in Canada
Related:Canadian Catholic bishops issue statement on 10th anniversary of MAiD
Related: Saskatchewan speaking tour raises awareness about expansion of medically-provided death
-30-
Canadian Catholic News (CCN) is a national news service, with members including Catholic newspapers, organizations, and individuals: CanadianCatholicNews.ca
Communications and Catholic Saskatoon News is supported by gifts to the Bishop’s Annual Appeal: dscf.ca/baa.