The UN challenges euthanasia for the handicapped in Canada
The United Nations Committee for the rights of the handicapped has recommended Canada to repeal the possibility of euthanasia for people whose natural death is not reasonably predictable.
These final remarks were published in the context of the periodic examination of Canada regarding the application of the Convention on the rights of the handicapped which was conducted on 10th and 11th March 2025.
Broad extension of the conditions of access to euthanasia in 2021
Less than five years after decriminalising euthanasia, Canada has considerably modified the conditions of access to “Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) which includes euthanasia and assisted suicide, for any person suffering from a serious and incurable disease and who wishes to die. The criterion of “Reasonably predictable death” having been deleted, the only condition which subsists concerns the existence of a serious and incurable disease, and for the patient to be enduring suffering which he/she considers to be unbearable.
In practice, this extension signifies that any person who is physically handicapped or suffering from a chronic disease is now eligible for euthanasia. The associations who defend the handicapped have vividly criticised these measures but have great difficulty in being heard by the Canadian authorities.
This type of euthanasia, referred to as “Type 2” in the statistics, represented 4.1% of cases (622 people) in 2023, an increase of 34% relative to the previous year. Among those cases, health problems are the most frequent, half of which concern neurological disorders, the other half being classified as “other”. The health problems identified in this second category include diabetes, fragility, auto-immune diseases, chronic pain and mental disorders.
The authors of the latest Canada Health report noted that “Practitioners have in some cases listed other health problems such as articular and muscular problems, hearing and visual problems and various internal diseases in the declaration fields.”
The same 2021 law temporarily excluded the assumption of mental disease, which was subject to an independent examination by experts following the protocols, guidelines and safeguards recommended for MAiD requests by those suffering from mental disease. The conclusions intended for 2023 have been deferred till 2027, due to the inability to define a framework.
The UN recommendations for the rights of the handicapped
The citizens’ network Vivre dans la Dignité (Living with dignity) which is committed to solidarity with the most vulnerable has translated the main recommendations from the final conclusion concerning Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in a statement:
• Repeal Type 2 MAiD, including in 2027 for those whose only medical problem is a mental disorder.
• Oppose the extension of MAiD to “mature minors” and to advance requests;
• Invest significantly and implement general measures, at the federal, provincial and territorial levels, to ensure that systemic shortfalls associated with the social determinants of health and well-being are properly considered;
• Reinforcement of the community consultation process founded on the distinctions between the native peoples;
• Establish and fund an independent federal mechanism for monitoring, regulating and processing complaints associated with MAiD.
“Vivre dans la Dignité” is calling upon all the candidates for the forthcoming federal elections to take position on these UN Committee recommendations.
An alert on the radical impact of the end-of-life bill for France
These remarks are relevant to the French debate on the legalisation of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Alliance VITA calls for absolute caution and warns of the dangers of the Falorni bill on the end of life, which contains broad and unverifiable medical criteria:
• To be suffering from “a serious and incurable condition, which is life-threatening, in an advanced or terminal phase”. It is sufficient for the disease to be possibly fatal and already advanced. The wording of the timing “in an advanced phase” cannot realistically be measured.
• Experiencing physical or psychological suffering associated with the disease, which is either resistant to treatment, or unbearable according to the person when he/she has chosen not to receive or to end a treatment.”
France would thus be legalising euthanasia and assisted suicide accessible through criteria which are as broad as they are unverifiable.
Read also: Decryption of the bill on the end of life
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