Canada to permit euthanasia without consent via advance requests

Legislation allowing euthanasia for individuals incapable of consent at the point of death is to be introduced under new proposals from the Canadian Government, according to Canada’s justice minister, Sean Fraser.

Fraser announced Wednesday that the proposed legislation would be discussed in the coming fall in the House of Commons. If approved, it would change the law so that individuals who have a progressing incurable illness could give their consent to have their lives ended by euthanasia in the future, when, it is assumed, they would no longer be able to give informed consent. He added that this legislation would protect doctors from facing criminal charges for euthanasia in cases where consent is questionable.

He went on to announce that the Canadian government planned to permanently exclude people whose sole underlying medical condition was mental illness from euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Have advance requests been implemented elsewhere? In a case in the Netherlands, after a woman with dementia made an advance request for euthanasia, she was reported to be confused and wanted to live at the time of her death. In that incident, her family had to hold her down, and she was euthanized by force. In the ensuing court review, prosecutors argued the doctor did not properly consult with the 74-year-old patient. However, the doctor was acquitted of any wrongdoing by a Dutch court that ruled that all the legal requirements for euthanasia had been met. Then, in 2020, the Netherlands ruled that doctors could no longer be prosecuted for carrying out euthanasia on dementia patients who had previously given written consent.

What are some ethical concerns? Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, chief executive of Right To Life UK, said that people with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease could have their lives ended when they can no longer give informed consent. He added that a request made months or years earlier cannot determine whether someone would still make the same decision as their illness progresses. There are serious questions about how any doctor could know whether a person who has lost that capacity still wanted their life to be ended, he said.

Catherine Robinson, a spokesperson for Right to Life UK, told WORLD that since the legislation had not been published, the advance requests for euthanasia would be debated and scrutinized. She added that Canadians writing to their representatives could make a difference, and if the legislation was passed, the individual provinces would decide whether to offer advance requests or not.