Advocates applaud Alberta's proposed limits on medically-assisted suicide
· Toronto Sun
OTTAWA — As Canadians wrestle with troubling new changes set for Canada’s therapeutic suicide framework, Alberta is taking steps to ensure limits are placed on who is able to access medically-assisted euthanasia.
And a disability rights organization is applauding the move, saying Alberta’s new rules will protect the lives of those living with disabilities.
Visit asg-reflektory.pl for more information.
Tabled on Wednesday in the Alberta legislature, Bill 18 — also known as the Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act — will stop physicians from prescribing medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to those whole sole reason for committing medical suicide is mental illness.
“This is a deeply personal decision, a decision that affects patients, their families and their loved ones,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said during a Wednesday press conference.
“The consequences of the decision are permanent and irrevocable, and because of this, we have an obligation to consider MAiD with the utmost care and caution.”
Patient safety has been paramount in Alberta, Smith said, adding her province has grown increasingly skeptical with federal efforts to expand MAiD eligibility to the mentally ill.
Canada expanding MAiD eligibility next March
Canada is set to formally expand medical suicide to those whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness in March 2027, a move that is causing concern in numerous circles.
In 2021, Canada removed requirements that death was “reasonably foreseeable” to be considered for therapeutic suicide.
Patients seeking MAiD are assigned to one of two tracks: Track one for the terminally ill and nearing a natural death, and track two for those whose death is not a reasonable, foreseeable outcome.
Alberta’s new law, if passed, would eliminate track 2 completely.
With 16,499 Canadians dying from medical suicide in 2024, that makes MAiD that year’s fourth-most common cause of death, between accidents (20,260) and strokes (13,725).
Advocates praise Alberta’s move
Bill 18 will also prohibit MAiD for those under 18, eliminate advance requests for committing medical suicide, end “doctor shopping” by preventing Alberta’s physicians from referring would-be MAiD patients to die out-of-province, and prevent medical staff from providing information about MAiD unless brought up by the patient.
The new rule would also require a family member of the patient to witness their medically-assisted death.
Inclusion Canada President Moira Wilson said the new rules should prompt national conversations about the protection of vulnerable people.
“This legislation demonstrates that governments can strengthen laws and better protect people whose lives are not nearing an end,” Wilson said.
“We urge the federal government to review Canada’s MAiD law and ensure the same level of protection exists for people with disabilities across the country as for those Canadians without disabilities. We also challenge other provinces and territories to follow suit.”