Canada’s Liberal government is set to introduce a bill that would restrict access to medical assistance in dying (MAID) for people whose eligibility is based solely on mental illness. Multiple outlets report the changes would also create or formalize the ability for patients to make advance requests, including in cases that would involve follow-on medical assessments later.
Coverage across outlets centers on safeguards and how the proposal would be structured under Canada’s legal and provincial frameworks. Global News says the Department of Justice will describe “rigorous safeguards” for advance requests tied to a diagnosis of an incurable illness. Other outlets describe the bill as a move to bar MAID for mental illness while setting up advance directives. National Post and other sources emphasize that the advance-request concept would operate within provinces’ existing legislative regimes.
Overall, the articles agree on the core thrust: restricting MAID eligibility for mental illness alone and pairing that with a mechanism for advance directives or advance requests. Differences are mainly in the level of detail and the wording used to describe safeguards and how advance requests would be handled.
