Revoke MAID eligibility for mental illness
Petitioners ask the House of Commons to support Bill C-218 to reverse the law extending MAID eligibility to people whose sole medical condition is mental illness, restoring an exclusion for mental illness alone.
Why we would sign this petition
- It would remove MAID eligibility for people whose only condition is mental illness, reducing risk of premature deaths when treatment and supports are inadequate.
- It prioritizes ensuring people with mental illness receive treatment and support rather than becoming eligible for assisted dying.
- It addresses concerns that symptoms like suicidal thoughts can be part of mental illness, limiting MAID where decisional capacity or alternatives may be unclear.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- It restricts personal autonomy by denying MAID to people who, after assessment, consider their suffering intolerable and irremediable.
- It may force some to endure prolonged suffering when they see assisted dying as their only option, especially if mental-health services remain insufficient.
- A blanket reversal may be blunt: a better alternative could be strengthening safeguards, assessments and mental-health care rather than an outright exclusion.
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, WHEREAS Canadians with mental illness should be provided with treatment and support; Mental illness is complex and can include suicidal thoughts as a symptom; The lives of Canadians with mental illness will be at risk when they are eligible for medical assistance in dying (MAID) on the basis of mental illness alone, especially when treatment and support are not readily available. Therefore we, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the House of Commons to support Bill C-218 which would reverse the law extending eligibility for MAID to people with mental illness as their sole medical condition.
Government response
No government response is available yet.