Exclude mental illness from MAID
Petitioners ask the House of Commons to pass Bill C‑218 to amend the Criminal Code so that mental illness alone cannot be considered a grievous and irremediable condition for medical assistance in dying.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would bar MAID for people whose only medical condition is mental illness, protecting individuals who might recover with treatment.
- It prioritizes offering treatment and timely mental‑health support before MAID, addressing concerns about lack of access to care.
- It responds to public and family concerns that vulnerable people could choose MAID due to insufficient care, reducing pressure on those groups.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- It would deny MAID to some competent adults who experience unbearable psychiatric suffering and believe they should have access to relief.
- Because experts say prognosis is hard to predict, a blanket ban might leave a few truly irremediable psychiatric cases without a legal option.
- A statutory prohibition is blunt and may be less effective than targeted safeguards, individualized review or parallel improvements in mental‑health services.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; 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.