Medical assistance in dying for those with mental illness as the sole underlying condition.
Bill C-7 committed to convening a panel of experts to recommend protocols, guidance, and safeguards to apply to requests made for medical assistance in dying by persons who have a mental illness. That panel was convened in August 2021 and is required to submit their report to the Minister of Health and Justice by March 17, 2022.
A 2021 national survey conducted by Ipsos showed that 65% of Canadians support access to MAID for those whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness if they meet all other criteria and have the capacity to provide informed consent.
We have developed an easy-to-use toolkit to help you effectively communicate with your elected representatives, and advocate for the issues most important to you.
19 recommendations for establishing a MAID regime that addresses situations regarding incurability, irreversibility, individual capacity, suicidality and the impact of structural vulnerabilities.
As part of our mission to educate and share knowledge, we are examining each issue of the Parliamentary Review in a series of blog posts. In this blog post, we discuss MAID for those with a mental illness.
John Scully is a former CBC/CTV/BBC journalist who has incurable depression, general anxiety disorder, and PTSD from covering over thirty-five wars.
Cody, an Alberta man in his late 30s, has been living with treatment-resistant depression and anxiety, as well as addiction. Facing continued suffering, his wish is to access medical assistance in dying (MAID).
The mother of a daughter who suffers from mental illness shares her story and insight into her daughter’s lived experience.
“The legislation includes an obligation for the Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice to initiate an independent expert review ‘respecting recommended protocols, guidance and safeguards to apply to requests for medical assistance in dying by persons who have a mental illness.’”
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