Two individual plaintiffs and an advocacy group are suing Canada for excluding mental illness from its assisted death framework, claiming this exclusion infringes upon their rights. Medically assisted death is permitted in Canada under specific conditions, but individuals with mental illness as their sole medical condition are not eligible. The exclusion, initially set to end in early 2023, has been extended twice, most recently until 2027. The Liberal government extended the exclusion, stating that the system is not yet prepared to offer assisted death to those suffering solely from mental disorders. Critics and health professionals argue that determining the incurability of mental illness for assisted death eligibility is challenging. Disability advocates also contend that accessing a dignified death is easier than obtaining resources or interventions to improve life quality. However, advocates and individuals with severe mental illness assert that their suffering is genuine, severe, and incapacitating, and excluding them from assisted death eligibility prolongs this suffering unnecessarily.
"There is no constitutional justification for prolonging the enduring and intolerable suffering of those Canadians who are eligible for (assisted death) but for the Mental Illness Exclusion," states a notice of application filed in court on Monday. The two individuals involved in the lawsuit each have grave and irremediable conditions and would qualify for assisted death if mental illness were not excluded as a sole condition, according to legal documents. The lawsuit alleges that the exclusion violates the rights of severely mentally ill Canadians to equality and to life, liberty, and personal security. It also argues that the exclusion is partly based on stigmatizing and prejudicial stereotypes. Canada's Health Minister's office did not respond promptly to a request for comment.
