The Canadian government has introduced a new Bill allowing people to ask, in advance, to be euthanised at a later date if and when they have lost the mental capacity to make that decision, reports Reuters.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the legislation will “ensure their wishes are respected if they are diagnosed with an incurable illness that could take away the ability to make this decision”.
The government will work with provinces and territories on implementation, with “rigorous safeguards … and ensure the decision remains voluntary and free from external pressure”.
People will have to be experiencing “intolerable suffering” at the time when they are killed, he added.
Canada first legalised euthanasia in 2016 for people who were terminally ill, and broadened its law in 2021 to allow people with incurable but not terminal conditions to seek death.
If the Bill passes, provinces and territories will still have to decide whether to make advance requests available in their jurisdictions; it is already allowed in Quebec.
Advance requests are also legal in countries including The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada, a disability rights charity, has raised concerns about advance requests for euthanasia, saying that a person consenting to their death “is the most basic protection a person has” and that “Parliament should not take it away”.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Court injunction stops Canadian woman’s scheduled euthanasia
Canada to legalise assisted suicide for mental illness
Euthanasia activist says SA doctors support legalising assisted dying
Netherlands considers allowing healthy seniors euthanasia choice