It could soon be easier for Canadians to make decisions on medically assisted dying.
The Trudeau government is introducing legislation to amend the current law which Justice Minister David Lametti says will involve those people “whose death is reasonably foreseeable and for those whose death is not.”
“Under both tracks patients must be faced with intolerable suffering and be in an advanced state of irreversible decline as the result of an incurable illness,” notes Lametti.
The amendments are in response to a Quebec court ruling on the issue which gave the government six months to make the changes.
Health Minister Patty Hajdu indicates those reforms are designed to make the decisions easier for those who are facing the prospect of death. As an example, Hajdu explains “under the current system there is a requirement for a ten-day reflection period. (The government has) heard that this safeguard does not provide additional certainty or protection so we are proposing to eliminate this reflection period.”
The government is hoping to get the law passed in the spring or summer.
