Canada has indefinitely suspended plans to expand its medical assistance in dying, MAID, programme to people whose sole medical condition is mental illness.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced the decision on Wednesday, saying the government would introduce legislation later this year to maintain the exclusion on an indefinite basis.
Under the previous law, the exclusion was due to expire on March 17, 2027, which would have allowed people with mental illness as their sole underlying condition to become eligible for MAID.
Fraser said the decision followed concerns over the lack of medical consensus on determining when certain mental illnesses are irremediable, as well as concerns about inadequate access to mental health services.
A parliamentary committee had earlier recommended that people whose sole condition is mental illness should remain excluded from MAID eligibility.
The government also plans to introduce legislation allowing advance requests for assisted dying in certain circumstances involving progressive illnesses that could eventually deprive patients of their ability to consent.
The proposed changes are expected to remain subject to parliamentary debate and possible legal challenges.
