The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) has said that mental illness alone should not make one eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAiD).
New MAiD laws aim to “protect medical practitioners” when an eligible patient seeks assistance in death, CMHA wrote in a new position paper.
The bill in question, Bill C-14, “does not, however, explicitly include mental illnesses in the eligibility criteria.”
The bill followed a Supreme Court ruling that struck down Criminal Code provisions related to assisted dying. According to CMHA, that ruling similarly overlooked the issue of mental health: “The ruling allows for competent adults living with a ‘grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes enduring and intolerable suffering’ to end their life with the assistance of a physician. The Supreme Court did not, however, define ‘grievous and irremediable,’ raising the questions of whether or not mental illnesses and addictions can be defined that way and what the implications of doing so would be in this context.”
CMHA “does not believe that mental illnesses are irremediable,” and says while “people with mental illnesses can experience unbearable psychological suffering as a result of their illness, […] there is always the hope of recovery. […] CMHA’s position on medical assistance in dying in Canada, is that people with a mental health problem or illness should be assisted to live and thrive.”
Photo courtesy of Canadian Mental Health Association