Liberals table bill restricting access to MAID for mental illness

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Sean Fraser has introduced a bill to amend Canada’s medical assistance in dying law.

The bill would allow people to make advance directives to access MAID and would bar access for those suffering solely from a mental illness.

The government says there are serious concerns about how cases involving mental illness can be assessed.

Advance requests allow a person who suffers from a degenerative condition, such as dementia or ALS, to ask that an assisted death be carried out once they no longer have the capacity to consent.