Senators agree on extending MAID sunset clause but split on its future

Assisted death for mental illness as a sole underlying cause will become legal in Canada on March 17. Bill C-39, currently at the Senate, would extend that by one year without making any other changes to the pending law.

Independent Senator Stanley Kutcher, left, Progressive Senator Pierre Dalphond, and Conservative Senator Yonah Martin all support Bill C-39, despite different visions for the future of medical assistance in dying. Photograph courtesy of Senate of Canada and The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia

News

BY IAN CAMPBELL

March 1, 2023

A government bill implementing a one-year delay before expanding MAID to patients with mental illness is drawing support from both advocates and opponents in the Senate, but deep differences remain in the Red Chamber on the fundamental issues of medical assistance in dying.

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