FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7 February 2024
Christian Legal Fellowship has circulated an open letter to all Members of Parliament and Senators today, urging Parliament to reverse Canada’s proposed expansion of assisted death (“MAID”) for mental illness, currently scheduled to take effect March 17, 2024. The letter is endorsed by over 170 lawyers and law students.
The letter arrived on the desks of Parliamentarians just before Second Reading debate commenced in the House of Commons on Bill C-62, a government bill proposing to delay the expansion of medically administered death to those who suffer from mental health issues. If passed, Bill C-62 will delay the expansion of MAID until 2027.
Derek Ross, CLF’s Executive Director and General Counsel, says, “Canadians with mental illness deserve the most accessible and effective life-affirming supports, not a suggestion that the solution to their suffering is to terminate their lives. Any legislative adoption of such a message is profoundly harmful, and inherently ableist.”
Recent studies have highlighted serious concerns around lack of access to care for mental health in Canada. Instead of prioritizing MAID for psychiatric conditions, the lawyers’ open letter urges Parliament to "prioritize mental health and disability supports that respect everyone’s fundamental right to medical assistance in living."
The open letter also responds to claims that courts have directed Parliament to allow psychiatric euthanasia, or that it would be unconstitutional for Parliament not to do so. “The assertion that the courts have required the expansion of MAID for mental illness is misguided,” says Ross. “A letter signed by 32 Canadian law professors, as well as a new peer-reviewed article in the Manitoba Law Journal, explain that no court has mandated Parliament to introduce MAID for mental disorders.”
André Schutten, Senior Counsel with CLF, explains further, “Rather than ending discrimination, the expansion of MAID actually perpetuates discrimination against Canadians with mental and physical disabilities, and removes more people from the full benefit of Canada’s criminal law protections. Furthermore, expanding MAID institutionalizes ableist presumptions about the value of life with a mental illness and portrays death as preferable to a life with a disability.”
The 170 legal professionals who endorsed the open letter called on Parliament to not only permanently cancel the planned expansion of MAID for mental illness, but also to take the necessary steps to repeal Bill C-7’s expansion of MAID for Canadians with disabilities who are not dying or near death.
CLF remains committed to its longstanding advocacy for the interests of marginalized Canadians, including access to medical assistance in living.
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For additional information, please contact:
Annamarie Carruthers
office@christianlegalfellowship.org
519-601-4099
Learn more:
CLF’s open letter to Parliamentarians, endorsed by over 170 lawyers and law students
CLF’s Brief to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying
Read more about CLF’s concerns about assisted death
The Vulnerable Persons Standard (of which CLF is a supporting organization) submission to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying